


Takeshi & Kasumi Kiryu

by Zeelian



Series: The Eternal Universe [1]
Category: Fantasy - Fandom, Original Work, Science Fiction - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-06-15 16:44:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15417249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeelian/pseuds/Zeelian
Summary: In a world much like our own an accident on the I-5 leaves a newborn boy orphaned and In the wake of the loss of most of their family to a catastrophic plane crash, Daisuke and Misato Kiryu are determined to take the child in and raise him as their own alongside their last surviving family, their 4 year old great granddaughter Kasumi.But greed and hunger for power quickly makes the boy a target for those who wants to control the Kiryu wealth and power themselves.





	1. Catalyst

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of the revised version, the early chapters have a lot added to them but the basic story line remains the same.
> 
> Note on the names:   
> The "Take" part of Takeshi is pronounced "Tah keh", NOT like the English word "to take something".  
> The two syllables are slightly exaggerated in the abbreviated "Take" used as a nickname.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Los Angeles, USA December 20th 1999 A.D.

The afternoon commute on the I-5 was suddenly interrupted by the screeching sound of breaks and metal grinding against stone followed by a loud crash, soon a handful of vehicles had stopped near the wreck as a few of their passengers braved the heavy downpour to approach the smoldering, twisted heap of metal hoping against odds that perhaps someone was still alive.  
“Someone call 911!”  
“I'm calling.”  
A middle aged man carefully looked into the driver side window before quickly looking away, there was no way the couple in the car was still alive but just as he was about to walk back to his car he heard the faint cries of a baby.  
He immediately turned all his attention into finding the source of the sound and just as flames erupted from the broken fuel-line he spotted a small infant hidden in its mother's protective embrace.  
Quickly reaching in he grabbed the crying baby and ran away from the burning wreckage.  
“I'm sorry kid, your parents can't protect you anymore.”  
“Oh my God! Is the baby okay?”  
“I'm a registered nurse, let me have a look.”  
The entire scene was frantic, but the nurse quickly determined that the blood on the blankets was not the infant's and she couldn't find any obvious signs of injury.  
“I think he's okay.”  
There was several calls about what a miracle it was that the infant was unharmed, while many also expressed their condolences over someone being orphaned at such a young age.  
Soon the scene swarmed with emergency crew as the burning vehicle was extinguished and the infant was looked at by the ambulance crew and they agreed with the nurse that it seemed like the infant was unharmed, though they still wanted to take him in and run some more test to ensure the boy had not suffered internal injuries.

Once the ambulance had left a Japanese couple approached the police officers monitoring the scene and inquired what would happen to the infant now that the parents were dead, they were told the child would be brought to the hospital for observation and they would look for relatives, if none were found he would be put up for adoption.  
After finding out what hospital the boy would be taken to the couple went back to their rental and drove back to the hotel.  
“Did you feel it?”  
“Of course, that child is no ordinary child. I have never felt an aura like that before.”  
“He needs to be trained or he will become a danger to himself and everyone around him.”  
“I agree.”  
They agreed they would try to make sure the boy would get proper training, but as of yet they had no idea where to start.  
“I will try to get more information tomorrow. Make sure he is okay, and see if I can find out what family he has.”

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

December 21st

“I was told that the boy from the accident on the I-5 yesterday had been brought here for treatment.”  
Daisuke Kiryu walked up to the hospital reception desk to ask the nurse about the infant boy that had been brought in the day before.  
“I'm sorry, who are you?”  
“I witnessed the accident and I'm trying to find out if the baby boy is alright.”  
“I'm sorry, I can only release that information to family members.”  
Daisuke sighed deeply and turned around to leave when he felt a hand on his arm.  
“He's perfectly fine.”  
A young nurse whispered to him before hurrying away so no one would notice her and it was a great relief to hear that the child had suffered no damage in the horrific crash.

The next stop was the police station but once he received the runaround about not being family.  
“Is there anything you can tell me?”  
“I can only give you the official statement. The boy is unharmed and he will be reunited with family once the hospital discharges him.”  
It was typical a PR pitch but it did give one piece of new information, the boy had family.  
Though on his way out from the police station he did overhear that the only living relative was an elderly great aunt who had no interest in caring for a child so the boy was to be put up for adoption.  
Instead of calling a cab he decided to walk back to the hotel to give himself time to consider the options available and no matter how he twisted and turned the problem at hand he kept ending up at the same place, the adoption the police had mentioned.

There had been an amazingly strong reiki emanating from the vehicle during the accident and he had no doubt that it had been the infant releasing it to protect itself and someone with such extraordinary potential not only deserved to be properly trained but would need it to not become a threat to themselves and others.  
Also, had he not slammed the brakes to avoid hitting the stray cat running across the road the young couple in the car behind would not have crashed, with everything put together he knew he had to make sure that the Kiryu family were the ones to adopt the boy and he knew his wife would agree.

Once back at the hotel he headed up to the room to pick up Misato for lunch and to decide what to do next.  
“The boy is fine, but his only remaining family has no interest in raising a child and from what I overheard she intends to put him up for adoption.”  
Misato reached out and placed her hand on her husband's arm.  
“I think you already know what my answer will be.”  
Daisuke took a deep breath and placed his hand on top of Misato's and gave it a light squeeze.  
“It will be a lot of work.”  
“I think we can manage, and it would do Kasumi good to have a brother. And a male heir would help calm the council.”  
Daisuke could tell that Misato was struggling against her tears, and he was suffering the same pain himself.  
It was only three months ago that they had buried their own family, the only comfort was that their great granddaughter Kasumi had been sick so she had stayed behind at the Kiryu Estate when the others had taken the flight to Tokyo to oversee the signing of a major contract for one of the subsidiaries of the Kiryu Group.  
They had lost not only their daughter and her husband, but their grandchildren and their families as well, the loss of nine lives had taken its toll on them which made them even more determined to make sure to the boy did not end up suffering.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

December 25th

“Do you think we will be able to pull this off?”  
Misato turned her attention away from the elaborate window display, as much as she loved the extravagant Christmas decor she just couldn't stop thinking about the boy.  
“The lawyers know what they are doing. The boy has a destiny we just need to have faith in that destiny.”  
Daisuke and Misato spent the day walking around the upscale shopping-areas looking at the elaborate window displays before retiring to a quiet restaurant for dinner and the topic soon returned to the boy and their chances of adopting him.  
“But we are old, and we are not American citizens, do we really have a chance to adopt him?”  
“Misato dear, you worry too much. If we can just convince the great aunt that we are a good choice “I believe we can win this. I think it is our fate to do so.”  
“You always were the one with faith.”  
“You should trust in the great Ryujin to guide us, she has never lead us astray.”  
Daisuke tutted at his wife with a smile, gently chastising her for her lack of fate.  
“And yet our son and his wife rests in the afterlife while their daughter struggles to understand.”  
Misato's voice held bitter pain and though it wasn't in his character to display his emotions openly his own pain was just as vivid as hers.  
_“Sh_ _ō_ _ga nai.”_  
The familiar phrase made Misato huff at her husband, _Sh_ _ō_ _ga nai,_ or _'It is what it is', 'That's life',_ was an integral aspect of Japanese culture, teaching them that there was no point in struggling or worrying over things that could not be changed.  
Though in that aspect the Kiryu family was not particularly traditional, hey had carved their place by not bowing to adversity, and now they were counted as one of the most influential families in Japan, and a secure place on the Forbes top 100.  
“It will probably be tough but we can do this.”  
“I know. It's just, I could do without the reminders.”

Daisuke felt confident that fate was on their side and that their skilled lawyer would be able to finally put the large amount of assets held by the Kiryu family to some real use even if it did feel less than ideal to use money to buy a victory in this case.  
And he was equally confident in his wife's ability to care for the boy if they managed to adopt him.  
He wasn't much of a child rearer himself, but together they had managed to raise one son, even though tragedy took him from them, while he lacked parenting skills himself he would instead use what skills he had to ensure that the children had access to the best teachers, and ensure that Misato was free to care for them without worry.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

 

December 27th

“Kiryu-sama.”  
The lawyer bowed respectfully before entering the small study.  
“Please, have a seat.”  
Daisuke waited for the man to sit down and bring out his papers.”  
“You have news for me?”  
“Indeed. We have confirmed that Miss Carpenter is the boy's sole living relative and our initial contact with her seems promising. She made it quite clear she has no intention of taking the boy on herself and she seems disinclined to put any effort into finding a good placement for him, so our intervention presents an easy way out for her.”  
“That is indeed fortuitous news. By the way, have you found out if he has a name yet?”  
“No, he remains unnamed.”  
“I see.”

They spent the better part of the afternoon going through all the details of what it would take to adopt the boy, the aunt was the key piece, she could become their greatest asset, or their greatest hurdle.  
“Please, go ahead with the plan, use whatever resources you deem necessary to improve our chances of her agreeing and allowing us to adopt the boy.”  
“As you wish Kiryu-sama.”

“Oh look at this one. Isn't it adorable?”  
Misato held up a tiny onesie with a baby dragon printed on the chest and Daisuke nodded and agreed with a diplomatic smile, he knew better than trying to resist when his wife was in shopping mode.  
She had insisted on going shopping for the baby despite him trying to caution her that they might not win the case to adopt the boy, instead she had quipped about having faith.  
“Maybe we shouldn't buy so much?”  
“Oh don't worry, if anything is too small for him we can always donate it.”  
Daisuke almost sighed at Misato's intentional misinterpretation of his words.  
Misato had dragged him from one store to another all day and had bought an ludicrous amount of items for the infant, much more than they could possibly ever need and he had no doubt she would drag him out shopping again once they got home to Okinawa.  
He only listened with half an ear as Misato listed all the items she had decided they needed.  
“Only diapers and wipes left now.”  
Daisuke grabbed the cart piled full of clothes, bottles, bibs and things he wasn't entirely sure what they were supposed to be along with a soft carrier, they also had slips for items to be delivered to their hotel, a car seat, crib and a stroller model that was suitable for infants, it was more maneuverable than a pram and would be easier to manage during their flight home.  
“Excuse me Miss, do you carry cloth diapers?”  
He watched as Misato called on one of the young store attendants.  
“Of course Ma'am, we carry several brands and models. If you would come with me I will show you.”  
“Thank you Miss.”  
Daisuke almost rolled his eyes when they arrived at the section of the store where the cloth diapers were displayed, knowing his wife this would take a while.

In the end they returned with a huge supply of cloth diapers as well as enough disposable ones to last them a week as they wouldn't have access to a washing machine of their own while they lived at the hotel.  
Cloth diapers weren't all that popular in Japan so Misato had taken the opportunity to stockpile all the diapers they could possibly need and then some, but Daisuke was more than happy to let her have her way.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

December 28th

“Miss Carpenter, thank you very much for seeing us on such short notice, I am Daisuke Kiryu, and this is my wife Misato Kiryu.”  
“Yeah yeah, just call me Dotty.”  
It was only a lifetime ingrained with the strict Japanese etiquette that demanded that one pay respect to one's hosts and elders that kept Daisuke from showing his displeasure at the way Dotty dismissed their greeting with a wave of her hand.  
“Well come on in, I don't have all day. I don't intend to miss my bridge game this evening.”  
Daisuke and Misato were appalled at Dotty's flippant disregard for the well being of the infant boy as it soon became apparent that she couldn't care less about getting to know the people who would be raising him if they reached an agreement.  
All she seemed to care about was financial gain as she rather bluntly informed them that she only had one demand for them to fulfill before she would sign the papers needed for them to adopt the boy.  
That demand was nothing but a price tag, a sum of $250.000 was to be paid to an offshore account and the boy would be theirs.  
But at the same time as they disliked her coldness towards her sole family they were somewhat relieved that her term was so easy to meet, the sum asked was little more than pocket change to them.  
With the papers signed Dotty lead them to a small guest room where a CPS worker was waiting with the baby boy.

The CPS representative spent quite a while going through the papers with the lawyer and now it seemed she was finally satisfied that they had all their t's crossed and i's dotted.  
“Everything appears to be in order. Congratulations.”  
She offered them a genuinely warm smile as she reached over to the simple travel crib and pulled it closer.  
“Oh, he's beautiful.”  
Misato cooed at the sleeping baby in the crib while Daisuke smiled and huffed something incoherent about mothers.  
He silently agreed with her though, peering into the crib gave him a good look at a beautiful baby boy who, despite his youth, sported an impressive head of soft black hair.  
When Misato picked the baby up they were met by a pair of dark gray eyes that sparkled with an awareness and curiosity way beyond his age, an obvious sign of an old soul.

“Have you decided on a name for him?”  
The CPS lady allowed them a moment to familiarize themselves with the baby before voicing her curiosity.  
“His name is Takeshi, our brave little warrior.”  
They had spoken quite a bit about what to name the boy if the adoptions went through and they had both agreed that Takeshi would be a good name for a child with such a powerful survival instinct.  
“So, Takeshi Kiryu, may your life bring you all the happiness you need.”  
“Thank you Mrs Steen.”

Their next stop was the hospital to talk to a doctor about acquiring breast milk for Takeshi, once back home they would hire a suitable wet nurse but until then he would have to be bottle fed and breast milk was a better choice than formula.  
“I am terribly sorry Mrs Kiryu, we don't have a local milk bank. The closest facility is in San Jose, but I can put in a request for you.”  
“Please, any assistance would be much appreciated Doctor.”  
The old doctor looked at them then at Takeshi for a moment before sighing deeply.  
“If you could wait a moment I will put in a call personally, maybe I can get them to put a rush on it. Would a 2 week supply be sufficient?”  
“Yes, that would be perfect. Thank you very much Doctor.”

The doctor returned about 15 minutes later and informed them that he had managed to set them up with a supply of mother's milk but unless they wanted to wait until after New Year's they would have to pay quite a substantial fee.  
“Money is not an issue.”  
“Okay then. I will let them know. It will take them about 5 to 6 hours to deliver it. If I could have your address please.”  
They gave him the address for their hotel along with their room number and would also inform the hotel about the expected delivery.

“I'm really glad you won't be raised by that horrible woman.”  
Misato was gently cradling Takeshi in her arm while offering him a bottle of formula as the milk wouldn't arrive for a few more hours.  
Daisuke watched as Misato fed Takeshi, set the bottle aside and made sure he didn't need to burp before handing over an obviously sleepy baby while she took the bottle to go wash up.

Daisuke had never been particularly skilled at using reiki or sensing auras but he could feel the deep pool of power within the infant in his arms and he had never felt anything like it, but it was a calm and warm energy that he found himself enjoying quite a bit.  
And he was very curious how his adopted son would develop.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

December 29 th 

“I don't mind if it will cost us extra, please, we need these documents rushed.”  
It turned out that getting travel papers for Takeshi in time for them to return to Japan for New Years Eve was quite a tricky feat.  
“Yes, please, that would be great. Thank you.”  
Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief as he hung up the phone, it would seem they would make it home in time for the New Year's feast.  
Picking up the phone again he called the airliner booking agency.

“How did it go?”  
“It went well, we can drop by the office when they open in 45 minutes and take the pictures and they will have the passport ready for us before closing.”  
“That great! How about tickets?”  
Fortunately First Class tickets were rarely sold out so there had been no problems getting seats.  
“I was able to get tickets for the night flight tonight so there won't be much time to pack. But don't worry about it, you focus on Takeshi and I will make sure we are packed on time.”  
Fortunately they were both light packers and most luggage would be the items they had bought for Takeshi, the tricky part would be cold storage for the store of frozen milk for Takeshi for the 16 hour flight but Daisuke had a few ideas.

After their morning visit to the passport office they headed out and bought a pair of quality coolers, a smaller one that would contain the milk needed during the flight and a larger, heavy duty one that would contain the rest.  
They also ordered a box of dry ice that they would pick up at the same time as the passport, the dry ice would allow them to keep the breast milk in the large cooler frozen and would ensure the store of milk they brought on board in the smaller cooler would last the entire flight.

Daisuke placed the last bag next to the bed before walking over to his wife who was resting in a chair next to Takeshi's crib.  
“Everything except for Takeshi's diaper bag is packed and ready so what do you say we go to that nice little seafood place?”  
“Maybe seafood isn't such a great idea when we are flying out tonight?”  
“If you say so sweetie. Any suggestion what we should eat instead?”  
“How about we just have some _Z_ _ō_ _sui_ then spend the afternoon napping?”  
“I think I can live with that.”

Caring for an infant was tiring work, despite Takeshi so far being a calm baby they were not youngsters anymore, though, once they got home they would have the help of a wet nurse, probably two, until Takeshi was old enough to start sleeping through the night.  
Placing a call to room service he asked for some vegetable soup, cooked rice and a few raw eggs to be brought to their room, they had a small electric tabletop stove that they had used for some limited cooking, and now came in real handy for boiling water to clean Takeshi's bottle's as well as making hot water baths for heating the bottles of milk to a suitable temperature.

Daisuke found himself somewhat surprised at how easy it had been to get the dry ice packed coolers through airport security, there had been no complaints at all and the flight crew had been bending over backwards to make sure Misato and Takeshi were comfortable.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

December 30th

They had been somewhat hesitant to travel with such a young child, but it turned out they had worried for naught, Takeshi had been amazingly calm despite everything that had been going on around him, only fuzzing slightly when he was hungry or needed to be changed.  
The flight attendants had all taken the time to visit and gush about what an adorable baby he was and offered to help watch and feed him so that Misato and Daisuke could get some rest.  
Misato was convinced that part of the reason was Takeshi's strong reiki, that he was instinctively using it to protect himself from stress and harm, he seemed to be able to charm anyone to his side.  
Daisuke didn't question her on it, she had always had a better sense for when someone was using reiki based abilities and she knew babies far better than he did.  
They only had one child, when the doctors had told them that having another might kill Misato he had decided to have a vasectomy to ensure he would never put her health at risk, but she had been helping the women of the branch families with their babies as much as she could.

When they finally began to disembark the plane in Naha they were met by a pair of the drivers employed by the Kiryu estate who helped them get all their luggage out to the waiting cars, a larger van and a luxury sedan which had already been fitted with a infant car seat in the middle of the back seat.

When they arrived at the house they were met by the head of one of the branch families who had been managing the house and taking care of Kasumi while they took the opportunity to add a few days of vacation to their business trip to Los Angeles.  
“Welcome back Daisuke-sama, Misato-sama.”  
They had left Takeshi in the car for now, they needed a bit of time before announcing him to the rest of the families, only a few select members of their private staff knew about the boy.  
They bowed slightly to acknowledge the branch family members, who were bowing deeply, before dismissing them.

“Obaachan, Ojiichan!”  
The moment the branch family members were out of sight Kasumi exploded with eager happy energy and greeted her great grandparents in a far more energetic, and intimate, way than propriety demanded.  
“Hello Sumi-chan. You know what, if you calm down a bit there's someone we want you to meet.”  
The 4 year old girl instantly settled down and peered at them with curiosity written all over her face.  
“Come here.”  
Misato guided her to the sedan while Daisuke instructed the drivers to bring in all their luggage and make sure the remaining milk was unpacked and placed into one of the freezers.  
“A baby?”  
“Mhm, this Takeshi, he is your new baby brother. But he's a secret until after the big party tomorrow.”  
“Okay! I promise I won't tell anyone.”  
Misato reached in and removed the car seat from the base and moved it to the stroller that one of the drivers had prepared for her.  
“Hello Take-kun.”  
Kasumi carefully reached out and touched Takeshi's hand and she beamed with joy when the tiny hand grasped her finger and he opened his eyes, revealing the dark gray color.  
“Oh, he's pretty.”  
Kasumi's cooing made Misato and Daisuke smile at them, it would seem Takeshi had instantly charmed Kasumi as well.  
“Sumi-chan, we need to go introduce him to Kiryu-sama, would you like to join us?”  
“Please!”

Kasumi was skipping along happily at Misato's side until they reached the _Torii_ gate leading to the small family shrine, once they stood in front of the gate she immediately moved to the side of the path where she straightened up with a serious look before bowing to the gate.  
Daisuke and Misato both bowed to the gate as well before walking up the stairs toward the shrine.  
After purifying themselves at the _Temizuya_ they approached the main buildings of the shrine, normally they would stop at the _Haiden_ to offer prayer, but today they would be entering the _Honden_ , the inner sanctum of the shrine.  
When they reached the haiden they were met by Tsukiko, the elder miko of the shrine who escorted them further into the shrine.  
Once inside the honden the old miko shed her human illusion and revealed the ageless form of a _Ryu_ , a Japanese dragon, in her humanoid form.  
“The child does indeed have power, but it remains to be seen if Kiryu-sama accepts him.”  
“Of course Miko-sama. Please allow us to present the boy Takeshi to the esteemed Kiryu-sama, Ryujin guardian of our line.”  
Daisuke couldn't help feeling nervous as Tsukiko took Takeshi from Misato and placed the infant into the clawed hands of the large dragon statue in the form of their benefactor, the Ryujin, dragon god, who had shared her name, Kiryu, with their family.  
Daisuke and Misato both breathed a sigh of relief when tendrils of red light began to crawl along the arms of the black statue and make it glow softly.  
“I can do that too.”  
Kasumi reached up and touched the statue which caused small sparks of blue to mix with the fiery red.  
“Miko-sama, Ojiisama, Obaasama look! Take-kun's eyes looks different.”  
Kasumi's eager call immediately made them look closer and true to Kasumi's words the infants eye's had changed, they were now a deep amber color with gold hues, but then suddenly they returned to the dark gray and the glow receded from the statue.  
“Why did his eyes change like that? Is something wrong?”  
“Don't worry Ojousama, it is not uncommon for the eyes to change color when someone powerful calls on their reiki.”  
Tsukiko gently calmed Kasumi who was clearly concerned about her new brother before turning to Daisuke and Misato with a short bow.  
“It would seem our great lady, Kiryu-sama, has accepted him. You may present the boy, Takeshi Kiryu, as heir to the Kiryu.”

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Kiryu family estate, Okinawa Japan, December 31st

A soft knock on the shoji door of Misato's private study brought her attention from the paperwork she was working on.  
“Enter!”  
Moments later the door slid to the side and revealed Yori Matsui, the head of security for the Kiryu estate.  
“Misato-sama, the wet nurse, Tanaka-san, has arrived and is waiting in the garden as requested.”  
“Thank you Yori-san, please let her know I will be joining her shortly.”  
“ _Hai.”_  
Yori's sharp answer was accompanied by a respectful bow as he retreated from her study.  
Misato carefully picked Takeshi up from the crib and secured him in the sling before heading toward the garden to meet with the wet nurse to see how she would fit into the Kiryu household.  
She knew that Yori would have vetted the woman carefully, but that didn't mean she would fit in so unless Misato instantly disliked her she would hire her for a one week trial.  
“Kiryu-sama!”  
The young woman instantly got to her feet and bowed when she spotted Misato.  
“Tanaka-san, please sit down.”  
“Thank you Kiryu-sama.”  
Keiko took a quick look at her own daughter before sitting back down.  
“I trust that Yori-bucho has explained what your duties will be?”  
“Yes Kiryu-sama.”  
“Excellent. And please, you may address me as Obaasama.”  
As much as Misato believed in maintaining proper etiquette, if hired Keiko would be a close part of their family for years to come, Misato wanted Takeshi to nurse for at least a year, ideally two or more.  
“As you wish Obaasama.”  
They spent some time in the garden introducing the wet nurse, Keiko, to Takeshi and seeing if he would accept being fed by her and much to Misato's relief he instantly took the offered teat and began to feed greedily.  
Misato would have preferred to stay longer but the guests would start arriving soon so with a subtle nod to one of Yori's men she excused herself and left Takeshi in the garden with Keiko and Shika, Keiko's daughter.

Daisuke and Misato quietly watched as the last of the guests arrived and were escorted into the great hall by one of the extra staff hired for the New Year's feast, it would be a long evening of food and entertainment until it was time for the traditional speech and fireworks to welcome the new year.  
“Misato-sama, Keiko-san is asking for you.”  
Misato quickly excused herself and followed the guard to the family wing where she was met by a somewhat distraught Keiko who was trying to calm a very fuzzy Takeshi.  
“I'm sorry Obaasama, I don't know what is wrong. He was resting calmly then suddenly he became inconsolable.”  
When Misato picked him up he quickly calmed down, but the moment she handed him back to Keiko he began crying again and refused to stop until Misato took him back.  
“I guess he will be coming with me to the party.”  
Misato huffed with a crooked smile, they had hoped to not let anyone see him until it was time for his introduction after midnight, but apparently Takeshi had other plans.

When they entered the great hall Takeshi's presence caused quite a stir, and soon everyone was whispering about him, wondering who he was as none of the Kiryu women had been pregnant recently.  
His presence dominated the conversations for the remainder of the evening and the chatter didn't stop until it was time for the speech, and once it was over it was time to ring in the new year, and launch the fireworks.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

January 1st 2000

After the last of the fireworks had painted their colors across the night sky Daisuke stepped onto the dais of the great hall closely followed by Misato with Takeshi in her arms.  
As he turned to address the room it fell to an eerie silence and all eyes and the full attention of over a hundred of the most powerful individuals in Japan, in the world, was trained on the trio.

Daisuke raised his voice to carry clear across the room as he addressed the group gathered.  
"This day as we step into the new millennium I bring you the next heir to the Kiryu name. As you all know Misato and I were never graced with sons, and the accident stole away our beloved daughter, our grandson and granddaughter, even our great grandchildren were lost, all save for Kasumi.”  
For a moment he was overcome by the pain of the loss but Misato's hand on his arm helped him push past it and focus on what needed to be done.  
“But fate has brought a new heir into our midst, changing the destiny of the Kiryu family.”  
Carefully taking Takeshi from Misato he held him up so that everyone could seem him.  
"This is Takeshi, first son and heir to the Kiryu!"

At first there was nothing but silence, then it exploded into noise, there was cheering and congratulations, but there was also many voice objection to what they had just been told.  
"Impossible!",  
"Disgrace!"  
The reactions were expected, but some of the words still hurt, especially the ones calling out about Takeshi being _Gaijin,_ outsider, not Japanese.  
“That is quite enough!”  
Daisuke's slightly raised voice instantly silenced the room.  
“Takeshi may not be family by blood, but make no mistake, he is ours. In the few days we have known him he has become a son of our hearts. We have no doubt that he was meant to be ours.”  
After speaking his mind Daisuke made it perfectly clear that they would not tolerate any further objections and that everyone should have a good time while he and Misato withdrew for the night.

 

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Catalyst_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Entering the small family room Daisuke politely averted his eyes from Keiko who was nursing Takeshi and sat down next to Misato who was entertaining Shika while her mother was occupied with Takeshi.  
The happy gargling made Daisuke smile at her and long for the day when Takeshi would start communicating his feelings beyond the 'Feed me', 'Change me' and 'Sleepy' cries.  
“Keiko-san, I believe the items you requested for your room has arrived. Why don't you go have a look?”  
It may have sounded like a suggestion, but Keiko took it for what it was, an order that she allow them privacy to talk.  
“You can leave Shika-chan here if you want to.”  
“Thank you Obaasama.”

“So, what did the council say?”  
Misato turned to her husband once Keiko was out of earshot.  
“Not nearly as much as they wanted to.”  
Daisuke's grumbled answer made Misato snicker at him.  
“Oh, that bad was it?”  
“I am quite sure that if Tsukiko-sama had not been there along with a _Kyūbi-sama_ of the Fire house to endorse Takeshi they would have refused to accept the adoption.”  
“Oh? A kitsune, a Kyūbi-sama?”  
It was rare for the powerful 9-tailed foxes to leave their hidden homes, neither Daisuke nor Misato had seen a kyūbi since the day Daisuke was named head of the Kiryu family.  
“Indeed, the council didn't dare risk the old accords so they didn't voice their objections, but I'm sure they will find some other way to to mess with us.”  
Misato looked down at the baby in her arms and shook her head softly at him.  
“I'm sorry, it seems your life will not be as easy as we had hoped to make it.”

 

 

 

 


	2. Shadows

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shadows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

"Nee-chan!"  
" **Neee-chan!** "  
Takeshi's excited calls were heard long before he came barreling through the door to the dojo and ran straight into Kasumi who was practicing with a pair of _Tessen_ , war fans.  
"Look, look!"  
He implored, waving a piece of paper at her all while practically bouncing around her.  
She folded the tessen and tucked them in her obi before reaching for the piece of paper to see what had her brother so worked up.  
On the paper was a couple of crude, but fully intelligible kanji representing his name, _Takeshi Kiryu.  
_ "Very good Take-kun! Keep this up and Kimura- _sensei_ will be out of a job in no time."  
She praised while patting his head to try calm him down some more.  
"Takeshi-kun!"  
Kimura-sensei's voice could be heard calling outside.  
"Did you sneak away from your lessons to show me this?"  
“Mhm...”  
The impish nod made her smile and tut at him before giving him back the piece of paper and giving him a bit of a shove toward the door.  
"Well you better go back before he goes to Misato-bāchan _,_ I trust you recall what she did last time you ran away from Kimura-sensei."  
The horrified look on his face as he ran back toward the small study that served as a classroom made her smile, Misato had always been very inventive when disciplining them, she had never been mean, or hurt them in anyway but she had a knack for finding just the right punishment to make sure they wouldn't want to do it again.

Daisuke was sitting silently at his desk, only half listening to the tutor complaining about young Takeshi sneaking away from his lessons again, the boy was highly intelligent but bored easily and was prone to mischief.  
He was just 3 years old but most of the workers maintaining the house referred to their young master as the _Kitsune prince_ after the legendary trickster fox spirits and the entire estate had been relieved that Takeshi's _terrible two's_ had been a brief experience.  
The boy showed an awareness and understanding far beyond his age, but that maturity had brought on a different issue, with his intelligence came a rabid hunger for knowledge and while it had made things like potty training a breeze it was also causing problems.  
Takeshi was clearly bored, he had been joining Kasumi in her lessons with Kimura and it would seem he was more interested in her lessons than his own toys and games.

“He's impossible! Today he ran away again to play with Kasumi-chan in the dojo.”  
“Kimura-sensei, please. I know he can be a bit of a handful sometimes, but maybe you just need to advance his lessons a bit?”  
“Takeshi-kun is just 3, I don't think he's ready for more lessons. Come spring, but not now.”  
Daisuke sighed slightly, Kimura was a good teacher, but he had a tendency to underestimate Takeshi.  
“With all due respect Kimura-sensei, Takeshi left the study to show Kasumi that he had written his name, and looking at his work he did so quite well.”  
He pushed the papers with Takeshi's writing across the table.  
Daisuke watched while Kimura sifted through the papers and he noted the way the old teacher's eyes widened when he realized that Takeshi had been paying attention to Kasumi's lessons and learned quite a bit of them, and practiced on his own using crayons and the simple notebook he had been given to draw in.

“I see... I will stark working _Shodo_ and _Shuji_ with him since he clearly has an interest in learning it.”  
“Allow him to join in any lessons he wants to, if you feel that it's necessary you may hire an assistant. Though if you do I would prefer you pick someone who speaks English without an accent. Takeshi may be a Kiryu now, but he still has his American heritage and deserves a chance to learn the language properly.”  
“As you wish Kiryu-sama.”  
They also spoke about allowing Takeshi to join Kasumi in her martial arts studies and agreed on bringing the dojo master, Hisao-hanshi, into the conversation so Daisuke sent one of the staff to fetch him.  
“Kiryu-sama, Kimura-sensei.”  
“Hisao-hanshi.”  
Daisuke quickly motioned for Hisao to take a seat before bringing him up to speed on the topic of Takeshi.  
“He has a lot of energy and I believe it would benefit him to start spending most of it in the dojo. Burning the excess energy and learning a stricter discipline might just calm him down a bit.”  
“How strict would you like me to be?”  
“I doubt he will cause you too much trouble, but if he does it should only take a few tries before the threat of having to clean the dojo floors will be enough to keep him in line.”  
The mention of the classic punishment made Kimura groan while Hisao chuckled slightly.  
“I trust he will be expected to learn to stitch the _Zoukin_ as well?”  
“Naturally.”  
Making a student sit out a lesson and instead practice the craft of creating the traditional zoukin cleaning cloth was another popular punishment that Daisuke himself had suffered at the hands of Hisao's predecessor.  
“Also, I would like you to keep an eye on the development of his reiki, if necessary have Tsukiko-sama aid you.”  
“Of course. Anything else?”  
“Not right now. Thank you, both of you.”  
Daisuke watched in silence as the pair left his study and once he was alone he sighed deeply.

Dealing with Takeshi had proven to be a lot of work, the first 6 months of his life had been easy enough, he had been a wonderful baby who had learned to sleep through the night quickly so they never saw any need to hire a second wet nurse.  
But then he had begun to learn to get around on his own, implementing various techniques including rolling, crawling and creeping, and a mix of the latter that looked very much like a larva crawling across the floor.  
And then he led them on a merry chase by skipping walking altogether and going straight for running, which had ended with Daisuke assigning two of Yori's junior men to help Keiko keep an eye on him, and he still managed to disappear quite a few times. Though Daisuke suspected he was instinctively using his reiki to pull it of.

Thankfully their home was old, built in the single floor style so apart from the _Engawa_ , outer corridor or veranda, surrounding the house being a few steps of the ground there were no height difference in their home so they didn't need to worry about him falling.  
Though they had added a railing along the outer edge of the engawa just in case he managed to get outside, the shoji walls wouldn't offer much resistance against a curious child, and keeping the _Amado_ , storm shutters, closed just wasn't feasible.  
Bringing Takeshi with them outside had been an adventure in its own, but they soon figured out a method that worked, though they did get a few crooked looks when people saw the tether attached to a simple harness.

It was a year of plenty of bumps, bruises and scrapes before he calmed down slightly, just in time for the terrible twos which had thankfully ended fast with him moving on to talking their ears off and asking a million _whys_ a day.  
Once he began speaking it had quickly become apparent that his mental development was moving at an abnormal pace, he had said his first words at about 6 months, and by the time he was 1 he was speaking both English and Japanese at the level of a 2 year old and was quickly learning more.  
No longer content to just playing with Keiko and Shika he had begun to cause trouble and in the end they had agreed to allow him to join Kasumi in her lessons on the condition that he stayed quiet and didn't disturb her.  
Now his cognitive abilities seemed to be aching for a challenge to allow them to develop further and he'd begun to be restless again, no longer satisfied with the simple games and aimless drawing that he had been given to entertain himself with.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shadows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Kimura went to look for Takeshi and found him in the garden, watching Misato perform _Ikebana_ , the traditional art of flower arranging with rapt attention.  
The usually hyper energetic boy was sitting perfectly still in _seiza_ for nearly and hour, watching Misato work while staying silent as a mouse to make sure he didn't disturb her since that would lead to him being sent away from the garden.  
Kimura kept watching until Misato was done cleaning and putting away her tools which signaled that she was done.  
“Takeshi-kun, it's time to return to the study.”  
“Hai Kimura-sensei.”

Takeshi's tone was somewhat subdues but he obediently followed Kimura to the small study at the back of the garden that served as a classroom, it was rare for Japanese children to be homeschooled, but the Kiryu family had a long tradition of doing so, hiring some of the best tutors, and a skilled full time teacher.  
Usually it was children with various disabilities or special needs that were homeschooled, but in the case of the Kiryu family it was security concerns that made them choose homeschooling, the available schools simply didn't offer enough security to offset the danger of kidnapping for ransom.  
There were schools for the ridiculously wealthy that had better security, but they existed in a world apart from the one that the Kiryu lived in, the schools taught that _Youkai_ were myth, that the great _Ryujin,_ dragon gods _,_ were nothing but superstitions and that magic was nothing but illusions and lies.  
It wasn't as bad in Japan as in some other places though, there was still a significant part of the older generations that knew the truth, that knew the youkai, Japanese demons, were real, that there were people with spiritual power, reiki, who could perform amazing feats.

“Takeshi-kun, please go fetch the blue Shodo set.”  
Takeshi's dejected mood instantly turned bright as he rushed to fetch the case containing the larger brushes used for the more artistic form of Japanese calligraphy.  
“Let's start with your name and see how do you when writing it with proper tools.”  
Kimura wasn't interested in the quality of penmanship, his intent was to study Takeshi's discipline, attention and motivation.  
He watched in silence as Takeshi opened the box and removed the protective waxed tablecloth and spread it out on the table before carefully removing each of the items and placing them on the cloth, first he placed an old placemat and onto it he placed the _Suzuri_ , inkstone, and the _Sumi_ , inkstick as well as a few small bottle of liquid ink.  
A _Shitajiki_ cloth that would prevent any ink seeping through the paper from causing a mess was next then the rolled up case with the brushes, each items carefully placed into the waxed tablecloth.  
“Here, I want you to try to grind the ink yourself.”  
Kimura poured a bit of water from the pitcher on his desk into the small ceramic bottle before settling back to watch him work.

The way Takeshi mumbled the instructions from Kasumi's lessons to himself while selecting one of the sumi made Kimura smile, it would seem they boy had indeed been paying close attention to the lessons instead of playing his games.  
Takeshi was just about to begin creating the ink when he suddenly stopped and hurried over to the cupboard with materials and picked up a _Tasuki,_ a simple cord used to tie back the sleeves of a kimono.  
Returning to the table he carefully tied back the sleeves of his simple yukata, though they weren't really long enough to get in the way it was still a good sign that he paid attention to details and was careful about making a mess.  
Kimura took note on how Takeshi worked slowly, mindful not to make a mess or damage the handcrafted sumi, like any young child his coordination was not the best but by being careful he managed quite well.  
Though his coordination was far beyond what a child his age should be capable of.

Once Takeshi was satisfied with the ink he dried of the sumi and set it back in its box and continued to pick up one of the brushes and prepare it with a bit of clean water before dipping it in the ink and carefully began drawing the strokes for the Kiryu kanji.  
“That's pretty good. Now try again but dab more of the water out of the brush before dipping it in the ink.”  
Takeshi's technique for drawing the kanji had been very good considering his age, but there had been too much water in the brush when he picked up the ink so it had bled slightly and looked a bit watery.  
Kimura made Takeshi redraw the kanji a dozen times before telling him to clean up and fetch the shuji set instead.  
The art of shuji focused on the neat, uniform, writing that was useful for schoolwork and every day writing, while Shodo was more free form, focused on developing a personal style.  
The simple shuji set had a smaller brush and a bottle of liquid ink rather than an inkstone and stick making it more suitable for practicing for a longer time as he wouldn't have to stop to make new ink or waste unused ink if he made too much.  
“I want you to fill these papers completely with your name.”  
The paper he had given to Takeshi was for beginners so it had fairly large boxes, but it was still a tough assignment, and would take a while to complete, but it would be a good exercise in determination, how would the last few kanji look compared to the first few.  
In fact, it was the level of assignments he would normally give Kasumi.  
“Hai sensei!”

When Kasumi returned from the dojo Takeshi was about halfway done with his assignment and didn't even look up from the papers when she entered so Kimura handed her the math worksheet he had prepared.  
“Kimura-sensei. I'm done.”  
“Good. I will look at them later and we can go through them tomorrow. Right now I have a few tests I would like to go through.”  
Kimura needed to assess Takeshi's current level to figure out how he should proceed with his education.  
“Hai sensei!”  
First out was testing if, and how well, he could read _Hiragana_ and _Katakana.  
_

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shadows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Daisuke watched while Takeshi and Kasumi worked on the latest examination that Kimura had prepared for them.  
He had been following Takeshi's progress in the lessons for over a year now, what started with him having picked up snippets of Kasumi's lessons had quickly turned to him catching up to and overtaking her in math as well as reading and writing both Japanese and English.  
His capacity for learning was astonishing, a combination of a high level of awareness of details, high intelligence, a nearly photographic memory and an insatiable curiosity made him learn at an insane speed.  
But the problem was that Kimura and the tutors were no longer able to keep up with Takeshi's ability to learn and the boy was showing signs of becoming increasingly bored again.

Once the test was done and Kimura dismissed the pair Daisuke motioned for Kimura to join him in his private study.  
"Kimura-sensei, I want you to contact your university contacts and find additional tutors for Takeshi in the sciences, advanced linguistics, financial & business management as well as any other subjects he shows interest in, no resources are to be spared, is that understood?"  
The old teacher immediately bowed his head with a sharp,  
"Hai, Kiryu-sama!"  
And turned to leave the room but paused at the sound of his name  
"Kimura-sensei, please send Hisao-hanshi to my study before you leave."  
Kimura nodded and hurried to the dojo to find the old martial arts master.  
Once the door had slid close Daisuke called the security office and asked for Yori to come to the study before leaning back in his chair to do some more thinking.  
His hope was that allowing Takeshi free reigns to study as much as he wanted might make him less prone to causing trouble, also putting the boy fully into Hisao's care might just keep him too tired to do anything.

A discreet knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts and he called to the guest  
"Enter!"  
Hisao slid the door open and entered as silently as only a true master of the martial arts could.  
"Hisao-hanshi please, have a seat."  
Daisuke indicated towards the chairs in front of the desk,  
"I called you here to talk about Takeshi, the boy is becoming harder to manage, he is bored with his studies and has shown great aptitude for causing trouble."  
At this the old man chuckled lightly before replying.  
"I have caught the young master hiding in the dojo many times when he should be with Kimura-sensei, I believe he has some interest in the arts."  
Daisuke nodded before continuing.  
"I am hoping so, additional tutors are being hired and I am turning the main responsibility for his as well as Kasumi's care over to you, I want you to work the boy as hard as his body can handle, my hope is that an extended curriculum will keep him from trouble."  
They were interrupted by a short but sharp knock at the door announcing the arrival of Yori who was promptly asked to enter and take a seat next to the old dojo master.  
Daisuke gave Yori a quick rundown of his plans to handle Takeshi before going into what he wanted him to do.  
"Matsui-san I want you to find a suitable instructor for security and tactics to train both Takeshi and Kasumi, as you know there has been many attempts to kill him and kidnap her in the past year and I have no doubt there will be more. I need the two of them to able to not just evade or hold an attacker off while waiting for help, I need them able to neutralize an attaker."  
Yori nodded solemnly as he headed back to the office to find an instructor for the children, he felt deep sadness and sympathy for Daisuke, teaching children to kill was never an easy decision to make, especially since both the children were kind, gentle, souls with caring hearts.

Daisuke turned to Hisao with a deep sign.  
"Is there anyone listening?"  
The old man closed his eyes for a moment before responding.  
"No, it is safe to speak".  
"Hisao old friend, as you must have noticed that boy possesses a phenomenal reiki and a natural talent to learn anything he sets his mind to, I want you to start actively teach him how to not only to use it, but to hide it as well. As he is now he does both instinctively but he must learn control. Other than that the two of them need to learn to work together as one in every sense of the way."  
At this Hisao interrupted him with a shocked expression.  
"Dantai? You want me to train those two as dantai? Are you sure you want to take that risk, even if we can get them to bond we might lose them both if something goes wrong before they are fully trained."  
Daisuke took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before answering.  
"I know the risks but I believe it is their only chance in the end, the other families are growing increasingly discontent with Takeshi as heir, listening to the councils whispers of him being gaijin. And the council only sees Kasumi as a vessel for a proper heir, someone for one of their obedient puppets to wed and bed."  
Pouring a drink and offering it to Hisao he took another calming breath as he watched the old martial arts master return the favor.  
"Also I want you to see if the Ryuken and Takeshi are compatible, Kasumi has already been chosen to wield Arashi & Kuragari and as such the Ryuken will not accept her."  
To this Hisao nodded silently before standing and returning to the dojo.

The art of dantai was an old, well protected secret that very few knew existed, and even fewer knew how to train someone to form the unique bond.  
In essence it trained a pair, or a group of people to become so deeply synchronized that their very souls merged slightly, allowing them to feel each other, even tap into each others senses, see what the other saw, hear what they heard, and share skills.  
The downside was that they also shared pain, if one was injured the other felt it as clearly as if the injury had been their own, if one died, it was not uncommon for the other to go insane, or even die as their mind shattered along with the bond.  
It was a dangerous play, but if they could get Takeshi and Kasumi to bond that way it would increase their ability to defend themselves, and it would make the council less inclined to try to kill Takeshi as doing that could kill Kasumi. _  
_

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shadows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Takeshi loved his new curriculum, the new tutors all had university level teaching experience and most of them held advanced PhD's related to the subject they were teaching.  
He had been given piles of textbooks for each subject, books that had quickly become treasured possession and Daisuke had turned one of the storerooms into a study for him, the 7 tatami room was long and narrow, about 1.8 meters wide and 6,3 meters long, and was dominated by a pair of floor to ceiling bookshelves one along each wall that only left a narrow path from the door to the window at the end of the room where a desk took up the full width of the room.  
He had been surprised to find a computer at the desk, while they had been taught how to use them they were rarely permitted to do so and this one was for his personal use, and gave him access to the global network.  
Along with the computer he had also been given a book filled with login details for several universities as well as sites that published research such as the PubMed database.

Takeshi was rapidly absorbing everything his new tutors had to teach him but as his mind developed his reiki quickly grew stronger and harder for him to control.  
“Hisao-hanshi, Kazumi-ojousama, Takeshi-obocchan.”  
Takeshi almost groaned at the way the old miko addressed him, but he knew better than to object, it was a proper address as Tsukiko used it in the respectful meaning _Young master,_ but it also had a more negative connotation such as a spoiled child or greenhorn who had done nothing to earn their place.  
“Tsukiko-sama.”  
All of them bowed deeply to her and walked off the mat to see what had brought her to the dojo.  
“Wakasama, I can feel your reiki like a raging wildfire. It is time for you to come to the shrine and learn to temper your flames. Power without control is a weapon that cuts not only the target, but the wielder, and what they wish to protect as well.”  
It quickly became apparent that Tsukiko expected them to come with her right away and once they reached the shrine she showed them to the _Shamusho_ , the office of the shrine, the building also housed a small dorm for the _Kannushi_ , shintō priest, and _Miko_ , shrine maidens.

The kannushi at the Kiryu shrine was just a figurehead though, the true master of the shrine was Tsukiko, but she had no desire to jump through the hoops to become a certified kannushi, she would rather let some human who was skilled at dealing with the bureaucracy of running a shrine hold the position.  
Being one of the Ryujin shrines they had a steady stream of visitors despite their remote location in the mountains of northern Okinawa, it was mostly older people though, the younger generations tended to visit the shrines and temples in the cities.  
Each generations fewer bothered with a pilgrimage to the remote shrines.  
The _Ryujin_ , or dragon gods, were _Chinjugami_ , tutelary deities and Kiryu no kami was the deity not only of the Kiryu family line, which it had given its own name to, but also the island of Okinawa.

“You may use these rooms.”  
Tsukiko pointed toward three small rooms, each only 3 tatami, or roughly 1.8 meters wide and 2.7meters long.  
Each room featured a small fold down cupboard desk, a rolled up futon and a _Tokonoma_ , an alcove for featuring traditional, seasonal, decorations such as _Kakejiku_ scrolls, ikebana arrangements or _Bonsai_ trees.  
“While you live and train here you will adhere to our ways, we rise with the sun and we purify ourselves together before preparing the morning meal.  
Hisao sighed slightly, he had grown attached to the raised platform that he used for his futon but he would not go against the ancient ryu, he held a deep respect for youkai in general and dragons in particular.  
“For now, please join me in the honden. I wish to make a deeper assessment of our youngsters here.”  
“Of course Miko-sama.”

“Wakasama, I need you to relax. This may be uncomfortable but please don't fight me.”  
“I will try Miko-sama.”  
At first there was nothing, then he felt a strange warmth that turned into an itch, then a burn, the burn quickly became uncomfortable then it seemed to abate for a while before returning even hotter, and somehow it felt dark and dangerous.  
“Now defend yourself, let your reiki fend off my youki, fight fire with fire.”  
He knew what she wanted him to do, but he didn't know how and her demonic power, youki, was quickly becoming painful and all he wanted was for it to stop, then just as he was about to cry out in pain his own human power, reiki, rose to his defense.  
The clash of powers was violent, chaotic and the energies swirled around them in a raging inferno, then Kasumi voiced a soft sound of discomfort and in an instant Takeshi's power solidified into a bubble around himself and Kasumi, protecting them both from Tsukiko's energy.  
“A barrier, that's good. It's one of the five paths. Barrier, Projection, Reinforcement, Healing and Purification.”  
Tsukiko spoke softly before reaching out for the barrier with her hand and tapped it with her claw, testing its strength.  
“Shatter.”  
A single word, and the barrier shattered like glass and Takeshi sagged on the floor, drained from the unaccustomed use of power.  
“You did well wakasama, now rest until it's time to eat.” _  
_

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shadows_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Takeshi quickly found that he enjoyed living at the shrine, it was a simpler life somehow, but not easy by any means, he was expected to help out with the day to day running of the shrine on top of his studies and training.  
Among the duties was to help chop and carry firewood and fetch water for preparing food as well as bathing and washing clothes, cleaning the grounds and help with repairs, which was all done the traditional way without any power tools.  
The only modern addition was security systems, the computers and phones in the office, electric lights for the public areas and modern plumbing for the toilets, apart from the toilets the restricted areas and housing for those living at the shrine didn't have any modern comforts apart from being connected to the sewage system.  
They had no central heating or air-conditioning, no electricity and no running water, they fetched their water from the stone well or one of the old hand pumps.

Tsukiko was adamant that living the old way would foster a deeper respect for the land and the youkai who were still deeply connected to the land and the elements.  
Especially the old wooden well had a special role in the life of the shrine the _Goshinboku_ , sacred tree, of the Kiryu shrine was an old _Gajumaru,_ a species of epiphyte fig _,_ and the well was nested among the many aerial roots of the ancient tree.  
What made it so special though was the fact that it was not a normal tree, it was in fact a tree youkai that had allowed itself to be sealed so that its power could not be felt, its sealed power was focused inwards, on it's roots that encircled the well and ensured that the water in the sacred well would never taint or run dry.

Under Tsukiko's tutelage Takeshi's control over his reiki improved rapidly, as did his reserves of raw power and she also taught him a lot about fighting like a youkai, using his reiki to reinforce his body and boost his physical combat ability the same way a youkai used their youki.  
The kannushi priest wasn't all too happy about it though as he considered it to be an inappropriate way to use the gift of the Kami, but he wisely kept his mouth shut about for the most part, Tsukiko was after all the true master of the Kiryu shrine.

Takeshi's training together with Kasumi had also been going well and it didn't take long before their souls began to merge slightly, forming the bond of Dantai and rigorous training combined with deep meditation techniques helped reinforce and deepen the bond.

It was hard work, but Takeshi loved it, for once he wasn't feeling restless or unfulfilled, his greed for knowledge being fed as fast as he was able to absorb it, if one tutor found themselves unable to teach him more new tutors were brought in.

But of course it was not to last...

Takeshi was meditating over the Ofuda, Omikuji, Omamori and Ema talismans he had made for the upcoming festivals when a loud voice outside disturbed him.  
“You there, go fetch the boy.”  
There was something in the rude visitor's tone of voice that set off all kinds of warning bells in Takeshi's developing sense for danger, and the fact that the female had addressed Chouko, the junior miko of the shrine who he could feel was the only person outside, without any titles or even basic courtesy only enhanced the feeling of wrongness.  
Chouko may not be fully trained yet but she should still be addressed properly as miko.  
“Well go on! I don't have all day you simpleton.”  
The way the woman was speaking to Chouko was angering him, Chouko was kind and clever and had done nothing deserve such a rude treatment so he hurried outside to make sure she would not have to do as the rude woman asked.  
“Chouko-sama, would you please let Tsukiko-sama know that I have completed the talismans for tomorrow.”  
“Of course Takeshi-san.”  
“Hmph. How inappropriate.”  
The old woman sneered at Chouko as she hurried away to find Tsukiko.”  
“Chouko-sama addresses me as I have asked her to.”  
“Whatever, come on boy, we don't have all day.”  
It took quite a bit of control not to sneer back at her as she was being incredibly rude.

Seeing Kasumi outside Daisuke's study in the company of another person he didn't recognize caused Takeshi to become even more uncomfortable and he could easily tell that she was feeling the same way even though she was trying to hide it from him.  
When the shōji door to Daisuke's study opened it revealed a group of old men and women and a group of younger men in sharp black suits, obviously guards, the Council of Elders had decided to make an appearance which no doubt spelled trouble.  
The elders were seated at one end of the table with the group of guards standing behind them so Takeshi and Kasumi quickly sat down next to Daisuke and Hisao at the other end of the table.

“Kiryu Daisuke, we the council of elders have come to inform you of the decision we have made in regards to the so-called heirs to the Kiryu house.”  
The elder who was seated in the middle turned his eyes to Takeshi with a glare and a distasteful sneer.  
“Kiryu Takeshi, this _gaijin!_ ”  
He practically spat the word.  
“Has been deemed unworthy of both title of heir and the name of Kiryu, however since there is no son of the blood and you have trained them to become dantai without permission, we will allow him to remain in the Koseki under the absolute condition that he becomes Kage to Kasumi”  
The true meaning underneath the words was that if Takeshi had not been bound to Kasumi they would have formally marked him for death.  
Takeshi could feel the rage simmering in the room, not just his own, but Daisuke's, Hisao's and Kasumi's anger was burning hot as well.  
“Kasumi Kiryu, tho being of the true Kiryu blood she is female and as such she will not become head, if no other heir is available by the time she marries her husband will be named heir.”  
When he was done speaking all of the elders spoke up as one.  
“This is the will of the council and so it will be done!”  
With that said they left the room followed by their guards.

“Can they really do that?”  
Kasumi's voice was subdued as she turned to Daisuke and Hisao.  
“I'm afraid so.”  
“It's not right!”  
Her sobs were angry and frustrated as she grabbed Takeshi and pulled him into a hug, refusing to let go for quite some time.

In mere moments Takeshi was doomed to never inherit anything from the Kiryu family, doomed to be Kage, a shadow.  
A Kage was strictly trained as a shinobi to be both guard and assassin and once he had completed his training he would have to swear loyalty to Kasumi, and in the future to whomever she married.  
The duty of the Kage was to protect their charge from the shadows and also to do all the deeds that the heir or head of the family could not dirty their own hands with.

Daisuke rose with a sigh and placed his hands on Takeshi's and Kasumi's shoulders.  
“I am truly sorry it has come down to this, but at the same time I am happy that they at least have not been able to gain enough support to have you cast out from the family or killed. Please work hard and become the strongest shadow ever and stand always proud at your sisters side even if hidden in darkness.”

After the children had left the room Daisuke crumbled in his seat suddenly feeling a lot older than his years.  
“Oh Kami, the boy is only five and they already put him to this path, he might be a genius but will he be able to handle this?”  
“I don't know old friend. But we will do everything we can to make sure he makes it.”  
Hisao offered what support he could, but he knew they had a hard time ahead of them.

 


	3. Shinobi

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shinobi_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Hisao gently knocked at the shōji door of the room next to his and after a few moments he heard Takeshi's voice asking him to enter.  
“I would like to talk to you a bit before breakfast.”  
“Of course Hisao-hanshi, just a moment.”  
Hisao waited for Takeshi to set his futon aside before taking a seat on the floor.  
“We need to decide on how to proceed with your training to become Kage.”  
“There is no way around it, is there?”  
“I'm afraid not, but we still have some control over **how** you train.”  
“I don't really care all that much, but the sooner I am deemed ready to receive my dragon and place the oath the sooner we can get the council to back off.”  
“Dismissing your tutors for now and focusing fully on your training as a Kage is one of our options.”  
“I don't see how any other option would be viable, they will be looking over our shoulders until I have sworn the oath.”  
“I guess it's settled then, after breakfast we will see Matsui-san about starting you on weapons training and compose a missive to ask to see the smith to get you a proper practice blade.”

Usually children would not start training with actual weapons until they were 7, prior to that they would use training weapons such as the wooden _Bokken_ or the bamboo and rice paper fans that Kasumi had used to practice her _Tessenjutsu_ before graduating to the steel and silk tessen she was using now.  
Takeshi had been using a bokken since he was 3 to learn the various techniques, but now he would need to learn to handle the true weight of a katana, which could be as much as 3 times the weight of a bokken.  
The high quality blades forged by the demon smith that the Kiryu employed to make their true blades was even heavier, despite being slender and seeming almost delicate compared to human or even youkai forged blades.  
The demon had come to Japan some 500 years ago to learn the art of forging the Katana and had fallen in love with the land and stayed, but it was his roots in a vastly different demon culture than that of Japan's youkai that made his blades so special.  
The human and youkai smiths, while highly skilled, only worked to preserve the traditions such as using the ancient Tamahagane steel produced by hand with traditional methods, making beautiful showpieces, blades intended as showpieces to show of their skill, and traditionalism as well as their customers wealth and good tastes.  
The demon smith on the other hand crafted weapons for battle, always looking to incorporate new materials and techniques to improve his work, but result was more important than adhering to traditions.

The Kiryu did value the old traditions, teaching and and honoring them with a deep reverence, but compared to the other Ryuken families they were highly progressive, more than willing to adapt to and adopt new ways.  
This had lead them to their current position as the wealthiest, and most influential of the families, but many of the other families believed them to have lost their way, to have abandoned their heritage and sought to claim their wealth and influence for themselves to benefit the traditionalist agenda.

“I wish I could learn how to forge my own blades.”  
“Maybe you will get a chance one day.”  
Despite having seen it before Hisao couldn't help being impressed by Takeshi's hunger for knowledge.  
“I hope so.”

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shinobi_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Takeshi-kun, Kasumi-chan, remember that the old smith is notorious for his total disregard for Japanese manners, he will speak his mind, and he will not observe keigo in any form.”  
Hisao reminded Takeshi about the peculiarities of the smith as their boat made land on Iwo-Tori-shima, the small volcanic island where the smith had made his home.  
“Don't worry Hisao-hanshi, we remember.”

“Ah, so this is the boy who has caused such an uproar?”  
The demon smith greeted them at the small pier with obvious humor and curiosity before leading them up to a building that turned out to be a strange mix between a workshop and a home, the smith clearly not only lived for his work, he lived **in** his work.  
“You do indeed have power in your soul boy. It will be an interesting challenge to craft a blade suitable for your strength.”  
He quickly turned away from Takeshi and began digging through a pile of what looked like scrap metal while muttering to himself in a language Takeshi didn't recognize and he could feel the slight annoyance from the two guards that accompanied them.  
Takeshi found that he actually liked the way the old demon spoke to him, it wasn't disrespectful in any way, the old demon just didn't bother with it all, instead he spoke his mind frankly and expected others to do the same.  
“Ah, here it is!”  
There was triumphant call from the pile as the demon appeared holding a small rod of silvery metal with a slight blue sheen.  
“Here, try to push your energy into this.”  
Takeshi took the offered rod and focused on what Tsukiko had taught him about reinforcement and projection, combining the two allowed him to him to project power to reinforce an item outside of his own body.  
At first there was a sense of resistance from the material, but then it seemed to give in and the rod began to glow red as if it had been heated close to the melting point but the metal was still cold.  
“Good good, now this one.”  
The rod was snatched from his hand a replaced with a different one, but this time the resistance just wouldn't give.  
“Hmm, I can't seem to do it with this one.”  
“Hmmm... How about this one?”  
Another rod was handed over and again Takeshi was able to push his power into after overcoming a bit of resistance.  
They spent about three hours testing various rods and crystals to see how they responded to Takeshi's energy, some offered no resistance at all while others simply would not take the energy.  
“I have what I need, feel free to explored the island until I call for you, you can sleep in the hut down by the dock.”  
The demon dismissed them with a wave of the hand but Takeshi didn't move.  
“Doufaran-sensei, with your permission I would like to observe while you work.”  
“Hmm... Curious are we?”  
“Very, and I find it to be a treat to watch a master work, maybe even be able to learn a thing or two.”

The smith hummed and nodded before turning to his forge and selecting two of the crucibles, one larger and one smaller and placing it on his worktable, it would seem Takeshi had been granted permission to watch so he silently moved around so he could see what was going on.  
The crucibles were soon joined by a high precision scale and Takeshi watched as Doufaran placed a few fairly large ingots of what looked like steel on the scales and noted the weight before placing them in the larger crucible, a few other metals in the form of smaller ingots were carefully weighed and added to the crucible as well.  
The process was repeated for the smaller crucible before both were placed in the furnace and while they melted the smith began to pick through the bottles, vials and boxes that littered the shelves, occasionally picking one and weighing some of the contents and putting it on the table.  
Takeshi watched as the various substances were added to the smelt one by one until Doufaran was satisfied and poured the contents into ingot moulds forming two pairs of rectangular ingots, one larger pair and one smaller pair.

Takeshi watched with great curiosity as the demon began to hum and draw patterns in the air above the ingots then suddenly the air between the ingots and the demon's hands turned foggy and the ingots began to rapidly cool, making it obvious that magic was being used.  
Once the ingots were cool enough to hold their shape they were attached to metal rods and the smith started working the metal, folding the larger ingots around the smaller ones then began the process of folding the metal and hammering it out again.  
The combination of a power hammer and magic made the work much faster than any traditional smith would be able to and before long two rough blades rested on the workbench.  
“Go on boy, pick them up and tell me what you think.”  
Takeshi wrapped a piece of leather around the tang before picking them up.  
“They are heavier than they look. It will take a lot of work to get used to wielding them.”  
“And how would you say they feel?”  
There was something about the way the question was asked that made Takeshi pause, the words seemed to carry a different meaning other than the obvious one.  
“I'm not sure, this might be silly but... They feel cautious, but friendly.”  
The sudden laugh startled Takeshi and he almost dropped the blades but managed to hold on.  
“All is good then!”

Takeshi watched as Doufaran began the rough grinding process that would refine the shape of the blades, the final shape would not be seen until after the quenching though.  
“Why don't you go get some sleep? This will take me the better part of a day to do.”  
Takeshi's hesitant and slightly disappointed look made the old demon huff and tut at him before offering his own bed in the corner of the forge which he accepted instantly.  
The fact that he quickly fell asleep despite the noises of Doufaran working was quite telling of how tired he had actually been.  
He only slept for a few hours though and once awake he went back to watching the work progress.

“How about you make yourself useful boy and go catch and cook us some breakfast?”  
Doufaran nodded toward a crate with fishing equipment next to the door.  
“Of course Doufaran-sensei.”  
“Catch enough to feed about 10 adult humans, we demons require more food than humans do.”  
“I will try Doufaran-sensei.”  
Takeshi quickly picked up the equipment and headed down to the rocky beach to see what he could find, he hadn't noticed, but he hadn't eaten since the midday meal the previous day..  
When he returned about an hour later he had caught several fish of varying size as well as some shellfish, cuttlefish and a few sea urchins and he was quite happy with his catch, he was a bit worried about cooking it though.  
He did help making breakfast at home but he mostly helped with the simple dishes .  
“Ah, that is a nice catch.”  
Doufaran just sniffed the air but didn't turn around.  
“There is a pantry through that door over there, use whatever you need. I don't think there's many eggs left, but the chickens should have laid a few new ones.”  
Opening the door Doufaran indicated blasted him with a wave of cold air before revealing a huge, well stocked, pantry, and as suggested there were only a handful of eggs in the basket that sat on one of the shelves so Takeshi headed around back where he heard some chickens milling about and picked what eggs he could find.

While the rice steamed Takeshi carefully prepared the side dishes, the seafood was cleaned and prepared, he had decided to try several methods, grilling, steaming and sashimi, a selection vegetables were prepared the same way and the eggs were turned into a fairly large Tamagoyaki omelette roll.  
“Doufaran-sensei. The food is ready.”  
“Ah, finally! The smell has been mouthwatering.”  
The demon quickly set his work aside and washed his hand before joining Takeshi in the small living area.  
“Itadakimasu!”  
Takeshi was slightly surprised when Doufaran also put his hands together and bowed slightly before digging in on the various small dishes on his tray, Takeshi had make sure there was a sample of everything on the tray to give Doufaran a chance to sample the various dishes.  
Once Takeshi had his fill it didn't take long for Doufaran to finish up every last bit of food before leaning back with a big sigh.  
“ _Gochisosama deshita_!”  
He patted his belly before speaking up again.

“Ah, that hit the spot, nice and full. You need to be more confident in your skills boy, that was an excellent meal.”  
“Thank you sensei. I will remember your advice.”  
Takeshi was somewhat uncomfortable with the way Doufaran praised him.  
“Ah, I have embarrassed you, apologies. I sometimes forget of deeply ingrained that humbleness is into the Japanese spirit.”  
Takeshi didn't know how to respond to that so he just bowed his head slightly.  
“Let's just forget I said anything and get back to work on your blades.”  
“Hai Sensei!”

Take spent the day watching Doufaran work and helping as much as he could, fetching tools and water, preparing food and any other task the smith asked of him, or he thought could help the work.  
Despite the continued use or power tools and magic it was past sunset when he began mixing clay for the clay covering that would form the _Hamon_ pattern along the edge of the blade during the quenching arrived, but Takeshi's attention was being drawn to the quenching bath as it was clearly not water.  
“Your energy is restless, just ask your question so you can settle down.”  
“Ah, I'm sorry. I was wondering what you use for the quenching. Is it some kind of oil?”  
“Ah, no, not oil. It's the blood of an ice wyrm, there is nothing better.”  
Using a simple ladle he scooped up some of the liquid and held it out for Takeshi who carefully touched it.  
“Wow, it's cold even in this heat.”  
“And therein lies its usefulness. But that is a topic for another time. Would you turn of the lights please.”  
Takeshi hurried to do as Doufaran had asked and watched with bated breath as the old smith placed the blade into the furnace and used the color of the blade to judge when it had reached the proper temperature for the quenching.

Satisfied with the heat of the metal Doufaran dunked it into the liquid and waited for the sizzling to abate then heating it again to temper it before setting it aside and repeating the process on the second blade.  
With the quenching done Doufaran began clean of the clay and working on revealing the hamon.  
Looking at the half polished blades revealed the soft wave pattern of a _Notare_ style hamon, some considered it to be a simple style, but Takeshi enjoyed its discreet beauty.  
“They are beautiful...”  
Few smiths bothered with such detail in training weapons.  
“Thank you.”

Next the _Nakago_ , or tang, was shaped and the holes for the rivets that would help secure the _Tsuka_ , hilt, to ensure good balance, it was also where the smith would engrave his name, the date it had been completed as well as the name of the client who had commissioned it.  
But before that the blades needed to be polished to their full beauty, normally this would be done by an artisan specialized in polishing blades, but Doufaran had painstakingly learned the art himself and did his own polishing.

Even with his advanced methods and magic the process took a week to complete, and during that week Takeshi meditated, and catered to the demon's needs as best as he could.  
He watched as Doufaran gently polished the blade, which looked just like a real katana save for the blunted edge, and inspected the mirror finish and Takeshi was somewhat surprised when the smith began drawing on the side of the blade.  
“A horimono?”  
Such decorations were usually only carved into blades intended for show.  
“No, it's runemagic to allow the blades to adapt and learn about your power so that your true blades can be crafted to be perfect for you.”  
  
Another day was spent complete the carving and create the remaining metal pieces such as the _Kashira_ , pommel, and the _Tsuba_ , guard and by the time the _Saya_ , scabbard was completed Takeshi and the others had spent two weeks on the small island.

“Thank you Doufaran-sensei, not only for these beautiful blades but for allowing me to watch you work.”

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shinobi_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Six months had passed since the council had ordered that Takeshi become _Kage_ , the assassin that was to walk in the shadow of the family head, it had since long past been a way to eliminate extra sons that could be a threat to the heir.  
By giving them a position of power while at the same time making them unable to assume the position of head themselves they remained useful to the family, the option had been to outright kill them.

As the regular studies had been reduced to free up more time for work in the dojo Takeshi had made fast progress and his body was far more well developed than a child his age should be able to.  
Much of it was due to his reiki being able to quickly heal the damage as he pushed himself beyond what was reasonable, the sooner he completed his training the sooner he would be allowed to go back to regular studies.

“I'm sorry Takeshi-kun. But you need to eat this.”  
“I know Tsukiko-sama.”  
Takeshi sighed deeply as he poked at his food and scrunched his nose, this however was a drawback, to help his body deal with the strain all his food was made to perfectly cover his needs and it also contained various herbs to help him heal.  
But as healthy as it was it often left a lot to wish for when it came to taste but he squared his shoulders with determination and cleared his plate before heading to the inner shrine to meditate before it was time for his next training session.  
The meditation had become a vital part of Takeshi's life, they not only allowed him to calm his mid, but it gave him the time to direct his reiki to heal the damage caused by the intensive training and slowly reinforce his body, making his muscles and bones grow denser and more resilient.

“Hisao-hanshi, what will be today's lesson?”  
Takeshi and Kasumi gave a short bow as they entered the dojo.  
“This afternoon we will be working on your dantai form.”  
“Hai sensei!”  
They both dropped into their respective stances and moved so that they stood back to back before carefully synchronizing their breathing and their minds, once they were in sync they started moving through an elaborate kata.

“ _Itte te te..”_  
Both of them grumbled and complained as they untangle themselves from each other.  
“Take, you are definitely getting taller, too tall for that move...”  
Kasumi grumbled slightly while Takeshi carefully poked her ribs to make sure she wasn't hurt and when he was satisfied she wasn't hurt he allowed her to check him the same way.  
“Well, did you two expect Takeshi-kun to remain a half-pint all his life?”  
Hisao's words barely covered the amused snort as he struggled not to laugh at their rather spectacular mishap.  
Over the past year Hisao had grown close to the children and they had developed a more casual relationship, stepping away from the strict teacher-student interactions and into something more familial.  
Having no children of his his own Hisao found that it soothed an ache he had never before realized he had.  
“How about you spend today trying to figure out how to adapt to Takeshi's growth?”  
“Hai sensei!”  
He watched as the two struggled to adapt their moves to account for the fact that Takeshi had been growing nearly a centimeter a month for the past three months.  


 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shinobi_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“I know it hurts, but please bear with it.”  
It was only the way Takeshi tensed under Hisao's touch that revealed the pain he was feeling.  
Hisao was kneeling next to Takeshi, working the herbal salve into his skin while gently kneading the sore muscles, the boy was suffering from severe growing pains and his reiki, while healing him, wasn't enough to keep him from pain and discomfort.  
“Feeling better?”  
“Much. Thank you Hisao-hanshi.”  
“It is no trouble, you make sure to sleep now, we have a long day tomorrow.”  
There was no answer, with the temporary relief from his pain Takeshi had already fallen asleep so Hisao silently slipped out of his room and headed to the small office of the shrine to make one last check to make sure everything was ready for the upcoming weeks.  
He would be taking Takeshi and Kasumi into the mountains for a bit of a retreat, formally it would be to teach them about surviving in the wild and to start preparing Takeshi for the first trial.  
But the true reason was to get them away from all the demands, the pressure, to allow them to relax and be kids for while.  
It would of course still be quite a bit of work to ensure they had shelter and food, but it wouldn't take all their time.

Hisao gently tapped the shōji door to Takeshi's room before reaching across the hallway to do the same to Kasumi's door and moments later he could hear both of them stirring and getting ready.  
“Ohayou gozaimasu!”  
Both of them called out their _Good Mornings_ as they entered the kitchen area and started helping with breakfast.  
“Ohayou!”  
Hisao returned the greeting, though in a more casual form.  
“Are you all set for our little trip?”  
“Hai!”  
“Let's go then.”

They wouldn't be going very far on their first outing though, only a few kilometers from the house, still within the Kiryu estate.  
Okinawa was a small island so there wasn't all that many places they could go, but Hisao intended to take them away to a more desolate place in the future, before the time of Takeshi's first trial.

“Now, what is the first thing you should do if you find yourself lost?”  
Hisao asked them to recite what they had been taught.  
“Find or construct basic shelter, starting with bedding to keep you dry and of the ground.”  
“Good, what's next?”  
“Fire.”  
Both of them replied instantly.  
“And why fire?”  
“Signaling, boiling water, cooking food and if you get stuck for a long time, tool making.”  
“Excellent, keep going.”  
“Next is water, and food is last.“  
“That's right. Now do you remember your rule of threes?”  
“Hai!”  
They both began reciting the Rule of Threes, a basic list of priorities in a survival situation based on how long an average human could survive in the wild.

_-3 minutes without oxygen or in freezing water  
-3 hours without shelter in a harsh environment  
-3 days without water if you have shelter  
-3 weeks without food if you have water and shelter_

Hisao hummed and nodded.  
“Now, how about you find us a suitable place to make camp?”  
“Hai!”  
He listened to them as they looked around for a good spot.  
“Freshwater attracts animals, so not too close. We don't want to share bedding with a _Habu_.”

There were three species of pit vipers that were commonly called Habu in Okinawa, the true Okinawa Habu, _Trimeresurus flavoviridis,_ which was the largest and most venomous one, the Taiwanese Habu, _Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus_ which was an introduced species stemming from escaped snakes that had been imported for various reasons.  
Then there was the Hime Habu, or Princess Habu, _Ovophis okinavensis,_ which was the most common one.  
There was also a species of coral snake in their area, but the _Sinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri_ , or Okinawan coral snake was rarely seen.  
There were no large predators to worry about on Okinawa, but there were plenty of venomous animals, both on land and in the sea and there were feral pigs that could be quite mean tempered.

“Take-kun, look a monkey lizard!”  
Kasumi's happy call made Hisao smile, it would seem the children were more relaxed already.  
“Aw, it ran away... I wanted to have a closer look at it.”  
Her obvious disappointment only made Hisao smile wider, over the years Takeshi's curiosity and hunger for knowledge had rubbed of on her a bit.  
“How about we finish making a camp then we can try catch a few?”  
“Okay...”  
He watched as they settled on a camp site and after a quick check he okayed their spot, it was well picked, and began helping then collect materials to build their bedding and before long two beds were taking shape, Takeshi and Kasumi had decided that they could share to conserve energy and materials.  
“Sumi-chan, come, look here.”  
Takeshi was returning with an armful of tree-fern leaves and something hidden between cupped hands.  
“Aw, how cute!”  
Hisao leaned over to see what Takeshi had caught for Kasumi and found that it was a small Kuroiwa's leopard gecko sporting a bold orange pattern on a black base.  
“Now be gentle, they are an endangered species.”  
“Of course Hisao-hanshi!”  
“You may address me with - _san_ while we are out here.”  
“Okay, Hisao-san!”  
He would have preferred to drop the titles altogether, but that would be a rather bold move, especially with the heirs of such a prestigious house as the Kiryu, that he was allowed to address them with -kun and -chan was already an allowance to his position as the grand master of the dojo.  
Most others would be expected to address them with -sama, or one of the variations such as ojosama.

“Sumi-chan, how about this one?”  
Takeshi held up a juvenile Pryers Keelback, _Hebius pryeri_ , that seemed more than happy to just coil around his fingers, the snake was generally considered fairly harmless but Hisao cautioned Takeshi to be careful anyway.  
“Don't worry Hisao-san, it won't bite.”  
Takeshi spoke with such conviction that Hisao believed him, the boy probably used his reiki to keep the snake calm, which explained how he had managed to catch it as well.

“Now now, focus on making camp please. We need a fire before we rest and I would like you to at least try making one without using your knives or ferro rods.”  
They all carried a cross between a tantō and survival knife with a large ferro rod built into the saya.  
“Hai!”  
Both of the hurried out to look for tinder, kindling and firewood and it didn't take long for them to return with piles of various materials, dry grasses, strips of dry bark, dry moss, even a few old bird nests.  
“Take! I think I found fatwood! Could you help me break these and check?”  
“Coming, just need to leave this.”  
“Bring a rock!”  
“Hai!”

Listening to the way they had dropped using any honorifics made Hisao very happy, it told him that they were relaxing.  
When Takeshi came into camp and dropped a large pile of twigs and branches Hisao joined him to see what Kasumi had found.  
Kasumi's voice quickly led them to a pine tree with several dead branches and it did indeed look like a promising source of the terpene resin rich fatwood.  
“Take, if you climb onto my shoulder maybe you can reach it?”  
“I can climb this without a boost.”  
Hisao watched the pair tackle the tree to get to the lowest hanging branch and it didn't take them long to break it off, revealing that Kasumi had been right, underneath the bark they found dark, aromatic, fatwook.  
“ _Yatta!”_  
Both of them cheered when their work proved to have given them the reward they sought.  
“Indeed you did. You did well, both of you. Fatwood is a valuable find.”

Despite the fatwood it took them several hours to get a fire going as they were restricted from using their knives to make it easier, but they did manage which earned them a round of praise.  
“Using your shoelace to make a bow drill was a good idea.”

They spent the remaining daylight to gather water using simple containers crafted by folding and weaving leaves as well as sacrificing Takeshi's T-shirt to make a water filter, during the collection of water a number of food items had also wound up in various pockets and containers.  
There were also a few crabs and a fairly large red-eared slider tied up using plant fibers that would be a welcome source of protein.  
The turtle didn't have much meat on it, but as it was an invasive species it was added to the meal plan for the evening anyway.  
“Hisao-san, these are boar tracks, aren't they?”  
Takeshi pointed toward a pair of faint prints in the soil of the small bush-trail.  
“That's right, maybe we will be able to catch one later.”  
Hunting a boar without proper weapons could be dangerous though so Hisao would not allow it unless he was sufficiently convinced that they could do so safely.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shinobi_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Returning from their little survival retreat the children were instantly thrown back into an intense curriculum, especially Takeshi who barely had time to sleep, but at least it seemed his growth spurt was over for now so his pains were not as severe as they had been.

“I don't like guns, they are too loud.”  
Takeshi's grumbled complaints as he reloaded the Walther PPK he was using for practice triggered another sneer from William, a former US marine who had retired into private security and had now been hired to teach Takeshi and Kasumi how to shoot.  
“Well it's not like a man armed with a gun is about to wait for you to get close enough to whip out that oversized pigsticker of yours.”  
Try as he might but Takeshi just couldn't resist trying to shut the arrogant man up so he quickly gathered a few of his _Harigata Bo-Shuriken_ , throwing needles, and threw them at the target, grouping them nicely in the center of the target area.  
“Who says I need to get close to kill silently?”  
Just as William was about to retort there was a soft twang followed by a thud as a _Hama Ya_ , sacred arrow, burrowed itself deeply into the target dummy as well.  
Turning to look in the direction the arrow had come from revealed Chouko with her _Daiky_ _ū_ , the longer version of the _Yumi_ , Japanese composite recurve bow, she was quite skilled in the art of _Kyūdō,_ traditional archery.  
“Great shot Chouko-sama!”  
“Thank you Takeshi-san.”

Takeshi knew he would probably be scolded for his little act of rebellion, but William's annoyed scoff made it well worth it.  
The man was rude and arrogant, but what irked Takeshi the most was the way he constantly underestimated the usefulness of their martial arts, and the way he would belittle their skills repeatedly stating that they would not stand a chance against someone trained in the Marine Corps version of Mixed Martial Arts.  
It made Takeshi itch for a fight, he wanted to prove that Hisao's teachings were just as good if not better than whatever William had been taught and the intensity of those feelings scared him, he wanted to hurt the man just to prove a point.

“Wakasama, you seem troubled.”  
“I am...”  
“Perhaps if you share your troubles you might find them less disruptive to your balance.”  
Takeshi hesitated for a moment.  
“I don't know if I can Tsukiko-sama...”  
“I am too old to judge anyone child. My experience may be able to assist you, and you have my word I will not tell anyone of your troubles unless you ask me to.”  
“I guess...”  
He sighed deeply before telling her how William made him feel, how he wanted to fight him, hurt him.  
“Wakasama, having such feelings does not make you a bad person. You wish to defend the honor of your teachers, your sister, and yourself.”  
“And Doufaran-sensei...”  
“Oh? What has the fool said about the smith?”  
“He claims that my blades are mere toys, that nothing made by a “primitive village smith” would ever stand up to a proper combat knife.”  
“A fool indeed. You have no reason to be ashamed of your feelings, you only seek to defend.”  
“No, Tsukiko-sama, that's not entirely true. It may be part of the reason, but in the end it's just an excuse. I want to hurt him, humiliate him, and that's all me. I can barely stand him...”  
“Takeshi, all creatures are of light and dark, such is the nature of life. Having darkness within does not define you beyond the fact that you are alive, how you act on that darkness is what defines you.”  
The fact that she dropped all honorifics startled Takeshi from his daze and he turned to look at her.  
“You have a gentle soul, and a caring heart, I have no doubt you will be able to temper your darkness well. Use it when you have need of it, control it when you do not.”  
“So I should treat it like a weapon?”  
“For now at least, but in the end you have two choices, keep fighting to control it for the rest of your life, or embrace it and let it be a part of you.”  
“And you think I should embrace it?”  
“I do, such is the way of my people. Some youkai fight their inner darkness, but they can never be as strong as those who find balance in embracing it.”  
Takeshi nodded his understanding before sighing again.  
“I just want him gone, but I can't act without bringing dishonor to my family.”  
“If I may offer a suggestion?”  
“Of course Tsukiko-sama, your guidance is always welcome.”  
“Though lacking in the wisdom that comes with age you are mature and capable far beyond your years, but he sees only the 6 year old child that is your body. He can not grasp that that body is not only capable of much greater control, but houses a mind that posses a far greater maturity.”  
“And your suggestion?”  
“Mr Parker is hired to teach the two of you how to handle firearms, though you are the priority. And I happen to know he is hired on a rather beneficial contract, but once there is nothing left for him to teach you there would be no reason to keep him employed, and there is no period of notice in the contract.”  
“So if I show that I have learned everything he has to teach, and that I am just as capable as him of teaching Sumi-chan if needed, his employment here will be terminated immediately?”  
“Exactly.”  
“Tsukiko-sama, has anyone ever told you you are every bit as devious as the _Kitsune_?”  
Takeshi could have sworn he saw he flicker of a smile as Tsukiko turned toward him.  
“Not today they haven't.”  
The utterly devastated tone she managed to pull caused a moment of stunned silence, then a rather undignified snort before Takeshi broke down laughing.  
“Feeling better, Wakasama?”  
“Indeed I do, thank you Tsukiko-sama.”  
She just bowed at him with a smile before rising and leaving him to his thoughts again.

Following Tsukiko's advice Takeshi devoted his full attention to learning everything William had to teach as fast as he could, using every moment of spare time to practice while reining in his temper, channeling the darkness within to the task.  
And it was working, he could almost feel his skill improve, his aim was rapidly improving, and he could pick the various guns apart, clean and reassemble them with his eyes closed.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Shinobi_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Wakasama?”  
An unfamiliar voice behind him made him pause and put the gun down.  
“Yes?”  
“I am Aoren of the River house, Tsukiko of the Southern Ryū has told me you might have use of a training partner.”  
Takeshi couldn't sense any youki from the young male, but he claimed to be of the River house, one of the kitsune, spirit fox, clans, so Takeshi gently reached out with his aura and allowed a weak spark of purifying energy flow through it.  
The response was instant and Takeshi could see three bushy tails behind Aoren confirming his true nature.  
“Aoren-san, I am Takeshi of the Kiryu, and I would be most grateful for any assistance you may have to offer. But you are kitsune, so I would hear what your price will be first.”  
The bright yipping laughter that followed was very kitsune and told Takeshi that Aoren had not taken offense to the somewhat suspicious greeting.  
“Ah, they have taught you well Wakasama. Worry not, Tsukiko-sama will pay my price.”  
“It will take more than just your word.”  
“I swear on my tails that no price will be claimed from you and my request for payment from Tsukiko of the Southern Ryū will be fair.”  
The second part was added with a knowing smile and as he spoke power gathered around his tails, the sign of a _Kitsune meiyaku_ , Fox oath, taking hold.  
Once sworn the fox oath bound a fox's power in an unbreakable geas, if the oath was broken the fox would lose their tails, reducing them to little more than a mortal fox, all they would retain would be the longevity and intelligence.  
“Your oath honors me, Aoren of the River House.”  
Takeshi offered Aoren a slight nod, the kitsune were held in high regard, but Aoren, despite having 3 tails, was not an adult and as such was considered equal to Takeshi who was still considered the heir to the Kiryu and would be so until he swore the Kage oath.

Normally a 3 tailed kitsune was an adult, but the the tails of an adult kitsune were soft and flowing, not stiff and bushy like Aoren's, in their human form the first tail was short and puffy, only reaching mid thigh they looked almost ball like:  
When the second tail grew in they became longer, about knee length, but retained their puffiness and then when the third tail grew in they became even longer, reaching the ground unless held up and gained a soft, silky flow.  
The kitsune could gain 9 tails, 3 tails for age, 3 tails for cleverness, and 3 tails for power, and the long but bushy tails revealed that Aoren had earned a tail for power or cleverness in addition to two tails for age.  
It was rare though to for them to earn an additional tail before gaining their third one for age, telling Takeshi that Aoren was either very strong, or very clever, and it could benefit Takeshi to gain his favor.

“So, Aoren-san, any suggestions how you could aid me in learning to master these weapons?”  
“Well, for starters I can give more challenging targets than stationary paper dummies.”  
With a flare of power a number of small balls of blueish green _Kitsunebi_ , foxfire, manifested around Aoren and began swirling around them.  
“Go ahead, Takeshi-kun, try to hit one.”  
There was a hint of amused challenge in his voice as he made one of the balls of foxfire dart in and brush against Takeshi's shoulder before darting away again.  
Takeshi quickly picked the gun up and replaced the magazine with one of the loaded ones that were lined up on the table before taking a deep breath to steady himself, with his mind focused he turned and fired at the shimmering target that flashed brightly before vanishing, bullet and all.  
Encouraged by the success in hitting the elusive target Takeshi quickly took aim for the next target and began shooting.  
“5 out of 10 targets. Not too bad for the first try. How about we make sure to improve that?”  
Aoren's mix between praise and challenge proved to be an excellent motivator for Takeshi who quickly grabbed a new magazine and continued to shoot, and as he did Aoren picked up a box of ammunition from the large case and began reloading the empty magazines.  
About half way through his 4th magazine the gun jammed up as it unfortunately was somewhat prone to and Takeshi muttered a few choice words while fixing the problem.

When it jammed again a few magazines later Aoren spoke up.  
“Takeshi-san, have you tried infusing your power into the gun? It should make it work smoother and perhaps add a bit of power and accuracy as well.”  
“It's worth trying...”  
Taking the offered magazine Takeshi prepared the gun, but instead of firing normally he pulled on his aura and began infusing the gun with energy before firing at the regular targets to test the feel of it.  
“An odd feeling, but I think I can do this.”

Takeshi kept shooting and after a handful of reloads the gun jammed again, but this time Takeshi could feel it happen and a few hours later he was able to nudge the position of the ammo inside the magazine to prevent it from jamming.  
“Thank you Aoren-san, this will come in handy.”  
“Glad I was able to be of service.”  
There was something about the way Aoren smiled and bowed that made Takeshi grab an apple from the bowl on the table and chuck it at the smiling face, demon reflexes however allowed the grinning fox to catch the projectile before it reached its target.  
Just as Aoren was about to bite into the apple it was Takeshi's turn to grin as the small amount of reiki he had infused the apple with made it explode in Aoren's face  
“Itte te te! How mean!”  
The brilliant smile belied the words though as Aoren licked the bits of exploded apple from his fingers.  
“Oh, your power tingles...”

Less than a month later Takeshi challenged William to put his skills to the test and they agreed to do a full examination 2 weeks later at the newly established SAT training facility in Naha.

“You may have gotten 100% on the written test but you still need to pass the range tests.”  
William was not happy that Takeshi had cleared his written test without any errors.  
“Of course, **Mr** Parker.”  
Takeshi had consistently refused to address William using honorifics, he simply felt the man did not deserve the title of _Sensei_ and the added emphasis on the Mr was his way to accentuate that.  
The range tests would consist of several stages, from a regular straight lane range to various tactical courses intended for SAT training, the SAT, or Special Assault Team, was the Japanese equivalent of the SWAT teams employed by US law enforcement.

“ _Wow, that kid is is good.”  
“Mind your words, that's the Kiryu heir.”  
“I hear he's supposed to become Kage to the surviving daughter.”  
“If that's the case she will have one hell of a Kage when he's ready.”_  
Takeshi only listened with half an ear to the hushed conversation as he prepared for his final round, if he cleared it with a good score he would have his victory.

Clearing the last target Takeshi waited for the course clear signal and once it sounded he expelled the remaining charge of reiki before holstering his weapons, but just as he was about to turn around to leave the range he noticed a black feather falling toward the ground.  
Reaching out to catch it he was surprised to find that it held a flicker of youki, he hadn't sensed any youkai nearby.  
The energy felt good though so he carefully tucked the black feather under his clothes, he would keep it as a memento of his victory.

“Kobayashi-san, how did I do?”  
Takeshi gave the course manager a slight bow and waited to receive his grade.  
“My colleagues will be most upset, you broke the course record and I have no doubt it will take them quite a while to break your score. I, however, thank you. It will be good for them to see that there is plenty of room for improvement.”  
“Thank you Kobayashi-san for your kind words.”  
Takeshi could feel the rage fuming in William's aura as Kobayashi presented him with the scores, he had been outscored in every stage of the test.

“Wakasama, do you intend to stay away from your own feast?”  
Tsukiko gently tapped the shōji door to Takeshi's room, but she didn't open it.  
“Ah, sorry Tsukiko-sama, I was distracted. Give me a few minutes and I will be there.”  
“Of course Wakasama.”  
He could feel her leave and as she did he turned the black feather over again before gently placing it between the pages of his large hardback atlas, the book would protect the feather from getting damaged.  
He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to see it damaged or risk losing it, something told him it was important and if there was one thing Tsukiko and Hisao both agreed wholeheartedly on it was _Trust your instincts_ , they both reminded him quite frequently.

Unbeknownst to Takeshi the owner of the feather in question sat under a tree outside of Naha, silently contemplating the flare of power he had felt, and his reactions to feeling it.

 

 


	4. Mountain Trial

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain Trial_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  


“Takeshi-kun, it's time to wake up.”  
“Hai, Hisao-hanshi.”  
As always Takeshi was wide awake the moment Hisao touched the door.  
“Put your _Shozoku_ on and join me at the rear gate.”  
“Hai.”  
Takeshi quickly scrambled to put on his Shozoku, the traditional shinobi garb.  
“Kasumi-chan, you can join us if you hurry.”  
“Hai!”  


The eager call made Hisao shake his head with a smile, over the past two years the pair had developed their skills and formed a tight bond and there was no need to check if she was awake, she would always wake up a few moments after Takeshi did.  
Takeshi was stronger, both physically and spiritually and he was always the first to notice whenever someone entered the dorm area but Kasumi was well synced to him and would become aware a few moments later.  


“Take-kun, what's wrong?”  
Kasumi quickly picked up on Takeshi's somewhat nervous energy.  
“Nothing's wrong Sumi-chan, I'm just a bit nervous about my trial.”  
“Don't worry, I'm sure you will be fine.”  
Before he had a chance to object she took the brush from his hand and began brushing and braiding his hair.  


It was time for Takeshi's first trial on the way to becoming a shinobi, and then Kage, but so far Hisao hadn't told him anything about what to expect.  
The training to becoming a shinobi included many disciplines, ranging from various covert skills such as espionage, assassination and guerrilla warfare to things like body guard work and other security applications.  
And as Kage he would be his sisters blade and shield, the duty of the Kage was not only to protect their sworn charge from physical harm, but also to protect their honor, to perform various illegal acts or acts that could be considered dishonorable.  
In the old days the work had been more focused on the covert aspects such as espionage, assassination, blackmail and thievery, in the modern world it was a bit more focused on the protection, but he was still expected to be able to fulfill the darker tasks.  


When they arrived at the gate fifteen minutes later Hisao and one of Matsui's men were waiting next to a large black car.  
“Excellent, get in the car we have quite a trip ahead of us.”  
“What about breakfast? You know how Take-kun gets if he doesn't eat...”  
“Don't worry Kasumi-chan, we will eat on the way to our destination.”  
The way Takeshi huffed at his sisters fussing made Hisao smile and shake his head, the boy was just as bad if not worse when it came to caring for Kasumi, Takeshi was quite the mother hen at times.  


Once they all had their seat-belts on Hisao took out the bracelets he had prepared in case Kasumi choose to come along, she could not be allowed to influence the tests that was to be performed the next day.  
“Kasumi-chan, Takeshi-kun put these on please, they will temporarily interfere with the dantai-link”  
They both protested but he silenced them with a sharp look.  
“It must be done, Takeshi-kun is to be tested and there must be no reason to suspect he had any form of help from the bond or anywhere else.”  
At this they both held out their hand so he could put on the spelled bracelets to mute the link.  


A while later they arrived at a small airstrip where a plane was waiting for them.  
“Why don't you eat some and then try to get some more sleep?”  
“Hai!”  
It didn't take long for Takeshi to fall asleep, but Kasumi was tossing and turning for a while before she finally settled down.  
The shift in pressure as they made their descent was enough to wake Takeshi and moments later Kasumi stirred as well and once on the ground they entered the car that was waiting next to the runway, as they drove of a sign by the entrance read “Nagasaki”.  


 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain Trial_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  


While the driver took them out of the city Hisao began briefing Takeshi about his test.  
“If you would look at this map please, this is where your target is.”  
The map was a fairly detailed map of a forested mountain area.  
“There is a cave here, in that cave there is a package in the form of a katana that you are to retrieve, you will have one week to get to the cave, retrieve the package and return.”  
He folded the map and handed it to Takeshi before pointing to a small bag on the floor of the car.  
“That pack contains all of the tools you are allowed for this test, you are however allowed to use any tools you are able to acquire along the way.”  


Takeshi picked up the lightweight black backpack, a smaller bag was attached below the backpack containing a small climbing equipment complemented by 100 meters of ultra-thin, high-test rope which he quickly inspected and set aside before inspecting the main pack by laying the items out one by one on the seat next to him.  
Fire-steel, a plain tanto with sheath and sharpening-steel, an empty 1-liter water bottle that could be attached to the front of the backpack, 15 water-purification tabs, a foil rescue-blanket, a 1x2 meter lightweight waterproof tarp, a small set of cooking utensils and finally a small but powerful emergency transmitter, it wasn't much but it should be more than enough for him.  
As he was putting the items back into the pack Hisao spoke up.  
“The transmitter will transmit your location and someone will be there within an hour to pick you up should you use it, but keep in mind, if you use it you will have failed the test and will not be allowed to retake it until next year, and you will not be allowed to start the next step of your training until you have passed it.”  


Once they were almost out of the city a blindfold was brought out and secured over Takeshi's eyes to make sure he could not accurately tell where he was taken and as the trip continued in silence he calmly counted his heartbeats, even if he did not know the exact direction he had some idea, and knowing their travel time would at least give a basic idea of where he might be.  
The smooth ride became bumpy as the car turned onto a small dirt-road and continued deeper into the mountain woods before slowing to a stop and the blindfold was removed, Takeshi blinked a few times to allow his eyes to become accustomed to the early morning light and took a look around.  
They had stopped at a clearing opening up at the very end of a tiny dirt-road, in the clearing sat a small hut with a covered well and small garden in front of it.  
The garden was unkempt but it had once been a well stocked herb-garden, he could see several edible herbs as well as those with healing properties among the many weeds.  
There were also a few shriveled fruit-trees showing a meager harvest.  
“Hisao-hanshi, when will my test begin?”  
“It starts now, you have until midnight on the seventh day to return with the item from the cave. From this moment on you will receive no further aid.”  


Takeshi started by studying the map to figure out where he was in relation to the target area and he soon had a fairly good idea, but he wouldn't be sure until he reached the area where there was a creek according to the map

 

Half an hour later Takeshi got up and walked over to the old well and brought up some water, after focusing his reiki on the contents of the bucket for a moment to determine if it was pure he drank his fill and filled up the water bottle, the terms of his test did say he was allowed anything he could acquire himself and a full bottle of pure water without having to waste a tab was a good start.  
Heading back to his backpack he took out the drawstring bag containing the tarp and walked over to the small garden, spread the tarp on the ground and started collecting herbs, fruits and berries that were divided into three sections, those suitable for food, those with medicinal uses to build a small first-aid kit and finally a few that were poisonous and would be used to create a poison to make hunting for meat easier.  
It was a bit past noon when he was done preparing and refolded the tarp and put it into the backpack, the small drawstring bag that had previously held the tarp was now secured to his belt and held a collection of edibles, a herbal first-aid kit wrapped in leafs and tied to one of the strings was a small bark container with the poison he had made.  
Making sure everything was in place he went to the well to drink some more and refill his bottle with fresh water before heading out towards the mountains where he would find the cave.  


Kasumi silently watched as her brother made his preparations and once he had walked out of the clearing and into the forest she turned to Hisao and spoke quietly.  
“Hisao-hanshi, do you believe he will make it? For the council to ask this of him so soon, they want him to fail, to die, don't they?”  
Hisao scratched his chin for a moment before answering with a sad tone to his voice.  
“I'm afraid so.”  
“They are hoping that with the bond muted by this thing I would survive the loss of the bond, right?”  
“Indeed.”  
“I just don't understand why they hate him so much, I **know** why, but I just can't understand it.”  


It took a moment for Hisao to realize what Kasumi was actually saying, but once he did he agreed with her wholeheartedly.  
There were many within the branch-families that were dreaming about a chance to step in and claim a position at the top of the head family and with the accident that dream had become a possibility.  
Then from nowhere came an heir once again reducing possibilities to hopes and dreams so now they would do what they could to prevent it.  


“Had it been anyone but your brother doing this at age 7 I would have said it was impossible, even at your age I would say chances were very small of success, however, with your brother being who he is I'm convinced he will overcome this test.”  
“Why?”  
She wasn't questioning it, but she needed reassurance.  
“ Already he is doing just as well or better than all who have been given this test, he headed out in the proper direction, he made sure to drink and eat from the garden before leaving and he also brought as much supplies from the garden as he could, not only food but also medicine and tools for hunting. I'm sure he will make it”.  


 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain Trial_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  


After leaving the clearing with the hut behind Takeshi slowly headed in the direction he believed his goal to be in and it didn’t take long before he came across the creek indicated on the map.  
He could have moved faster but in order to confirm his position he had to take it slower and double-check his surroundings to make sure he didn’t lose his position.  
He also picked some of the edible plants he spotted as he walked.  


As daylight began to wane Takeshi started to keep an eye out for a suitable camp site and it didn’t take long before he spotted a sheltered clearing near a bend in the creek.  
It didn't take long to set up a simple camp and get a fire started, nights could get cold and he could not afford to take any chances, wild animals was also a risk he had to consider.  
Going down to the creek to collect some more water he noticed movement in a small pocket of calmer water behind a rock, looking closer he spotted a good sized fish standing against the slight current.  
A memory from one of his lessons with Kimura-sensei came to mind, some native cultures used a technique called “tickling” to catch fish with their bare hands and he did have some time to spare and trying to catch dinner was as good a way as any to spend it.  
When the last daylight finally surrendered to darkness the fish was cooked and the remains wrapped in woven grass so it would keep until morning and he sat down on the pile of branches, leaves and grass and leaned against a rock with the tarp wrapped around him for some extra protection, closing his eyes he counted heartbeats as he willed sleep to claim him.  


He soon found himself dreaming, it was not uncommon for him to experience lucid dreams, dreams where he was fully aware that he was dreaming and was able to control them.  
In this dream he found himself sitting before the statue of the Ryujin in the inner sanctum of the shrine and it was glowing with energy, but somehow the glow was darkness and black fire.  
He could hear a voice but the sound was distorted, making it impossible to hear the actual words, but he got a feeling that whatever the Ryujin was trying to say was important, a feeling that was enhanced by the almost sad feeling he got from the statue.  
“I’m sorry. I can’t hear your voice properly, can’t understand you.”  
The moment he spoke the energy of the statues seemed to focus on him for a moment before it flickered with a somewhat disappointed understanding and the image shifted to that of the clearing behind the shrine.  


“ _Wakasama, some words can only be heard by your heart, only be understood by your soul.”_  


The words were from a lesson Tsukiko had given him about a year ago, the topic of that lesson however had been love, and the way Japanese culture approached love.  
Takeshi had been curious about why one of the guards, who was clearly in love with Keiko, didn't just come out and tell her that he loved her, especially since it was obvious the feeling was mutual.  


Now, in this dream they seemed to carry a different meaning, a deeper meaning, but for now the meaning eluded him so instead he focused on trying to dismiss the dream and force himself into a deeper sleep that gave more rest.

 

The following morning Takeshi woke up with the sun and prepared to break camp, but first he went down to the water to refill his bottle and wash up a bit.  
As he bent down to fill the bottle he noticed there was a new fish sitting behind the rock so he adjusted his plans for the morning slightly, he could not afford to miss easy food, especially one of fat and protein, vegetables and berries were easy to find this time of year but meat would be harder to get with only a tanto.  
This time it was much less effort to catch the fish and soon it was cooking in the remains of the fire while he ate what was left from last night’s catch, once it was done he made sure the fire was out and filled up the water-bottle, luckily the water in the stream was clean enough to not require using one of the purification tabs and he would not be wasting any blessings he found.  
With one last check of the map he headed out towards his target.  


Along the way various nuts and berries found their way into the drawstring bag and into pockets in his Shozoku along with feathers and sap.  
A slender sapling along with suitable branches had fallen victim to his tanto, the sapling along with some threads from his clothing would be crafted into a simple bow that should be enough to hunt with.  
To make sure he would have enough light to make it he stopped around noon for some food and to craft the bow, he could make up for lost time in the evening and being able to hunt could prove vital in the end.  
Waiting to make camp until the very last daylight he ended up making good time, he should reach the foot of the mountainside housing the cave by nightfall tomorrow.  


 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain Trial_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  


The third day started well before sunrise as he was pulled from sleep by the sound of approaching thunder and it sounded like it could be a pretty bad storm, he would have preferred finding shelter and wait it out but he didn’t have the luxury of wasting time so he made a quick break of camp and started walking while eating the last of the fish.  


When noon came around the weather had gone from bad to worse and the powerful downbursts and increasingly large hail mixed with the rain forced him to seek shelter in a crevice formed by two fairly large boulders.  
He crawled in as far as he could and placed the tarp as extra protection from the hail and debris on the wind before wrapping the emergency blanket around himself for warmth.  
As it came closer he noticed that there was something about the storm that felt very wrong, it didn't have the neutral feel that weather usually had, instead it felt malicious and was tainted by an energy similar to youki, telling him that it was not a natural storm.  
With a deep breath he centered himself and focused on forming a barrier around the area where he was hiding, it was a fairly basic barrier, intended to protect against malicious intent.  


With the barrier in place Takeshi began to think about his situation, about what the future might have in store for him and Kasumi.  
He didn’t put much thought into the current task though, there was no point worrying about it, instead his mind kept drifting toward the emptiness he felt with the bond muted by the runed bracelet.  
It would seem someone intended to take advantage of the muted bond to kill him without the risk of Kasumi being pulled under by the shattering of the bond.  


Only a few minutes had passed when he was pulled from his musings by the sensation of youki brushing against his barrier, as almost all youki it was dark and simmering with with an untamed power but it carried no ill intent.  
Instead it felt friendly, almost caring, as it gently tested his barrier and the way it easily slid through proved it meant no harm, instead it felt almost apologetic as it slid into his barrier and solidified, forming a second barrier hidden within his own.  
He could sense a feeling of concern, and expectation from the foreign energy and after a few moments he realized the meaning, whoever was helping was concerned about getting caught assisting him, worried that it would void the trial.  
By carefully focusing on his own barrier Takeshi divided its energy making it form two distinct layers with the youki barrier sandwiched between the layers and the moment he did the energy shifted into a pleased calm.  
There was something vaguely familiar about the energy but Takeshi couldn't place it, but it would seem he had some allies at least.  


The storm raged long into the night and Takeshi was concerned about the amount of time he was losing, but once the worst of the storm cleared he fond that his shelter was much closer to the target area than he had believed at first.  
The moonlight revealed a sheer cliff face not far from his location, but the rain had turned the trails into rivulets of mud and would make the climb a hazardous one.

 

When he woke on the 4th morning he quickly ate and headed toward the cliff, but despite the relatively short distance he still spent most of the day tracking through mud before he finally made it to the foot of the cliff he would have to climb to make it to his goal:  
It was however much to late in the afternoon to risk starting the climb and he needed to try to find some proper food since his extended break due to the weather had cost him most of his supplies.  
After a few hours hunting he had managed to get a nice rabbit and a few small birds, though not giving much food the birds provided feathers that allowed him to fletch a few more arrows just in case.  
With his hunger sated he used the last sunlight to inspect the cliff and scout for a suitable path up the sheer rock-face before curling up to sleep within a crevice that offered good protection from the elements.  


It took longer than usual to fall asleep though, he was worried about the lost time, he had used far too much time to reach the target location and he doubted he would be able to get back in time, which meant he would be forced to wait a year before trying again.  
But he also knew that had it not been for the storm he would most likely already had been on his way back, and the storm had been conjured to kill him, but only managed to delay him.  


 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain Trial_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  


Once again he woke with the first sunlight and had a small breakfast consisting mostly of sweet berries, the remaining meat would be eaten later, for the moment he would need the fast energy from the berries since the climb up to the cave would not be a an easy one.  
The quickest route to the cave would require a climb just over 300 meters, under normal circumstances this would not have been much, but with limited equipment and no prepared route it would require a bit more work.  
He was just as strong as an adult but his small size could prove troublesome when it came to finding holds for the climb.  
It would have been much easier to repel from above the cave, however it would take too long to circle around and he didn't know what kind of terrain he would find.  


Walking up to the starting point of the route he had scouted last night he rechecked it to make sure he hadn't missed anything before unpacking the climbing gear and securing the various items to his shozoku.  
To be on the safe side he uncoiled the rope to make sure it was in good condition, he would take no chances here.  
Once satisfied with its condition he re-packed it and walked up to the massive stone wall, this close the wall was rather intimidating but he took a deep breath and started his climb.  


The climb was far more taxing than he had anticipated even when taking into account his limited equipment and reach but come afternoon he finally pulled himself onto a small shelf outside the mouth of a cave, taking a few calming breaths he allowed his reiki to uncoil and focused all of his senses into the darkness ahead of him, though he felt no danger he still drew the tanto as he headed into the opening in the mountain side.  


The cavern was small and and he found no trace of his target, but hidden behind a protruding rock at the far end he found a small passage leading deeper into the mountain, it would seem his target was further in.  
Cursing the fact that he did not think to craft a few torches before climbing to the cave he willed the coils of his reiki to act like the whiskers of a cat, gently brushing against the walls and forming a fine web in front of him, it wasn't the same as seeing but it would warn him of any dangers ahead.  
After a few minutes of slowly walking the tunnel it opened up into a new cave, this one was as far as he could tell much larger.  


If his target was within this room he might have a hard time finding it and he definitely did not have time to climb down, craft torches and climb back up, he would have to find some other way.

 

Taking a seat at the end of the tunnel he opened his pack and found the meat from the rabbit and began eating while trying to figure out what to do.  
When he put the last piece of meat back into the pack the bag containing the rope fell against his leg and an idea sparked to life, quickly he placed one end of the rope on the ground and shifted the large stone he had been sitting so that it kept the rope in place.  
Securing the other end of the rope in his belt he placed his left hand against the closest wall and refocused his reiki to once again act as replacement for his eyes before starting to walk along the wall in a slow but measured pace, counting each step as he moved further into the cave.  
Hopefully he would be able to move around the cave and return to his point of origin without the rope snagging on something or running out, doing so would give him a fairly accurate measure of the size of the cave he was in and it would also tell him if there was anymore connecting tunnels.  


When he returned to the starting-point and gathered the rope back in he knew a few more things about the room, the perimeter measured somewhere between 155 and 160 meters, the curve of the room seemed to be fairly constant and there was no other tunnels, finally the rope had been soaked in water telling him there was a pool of water somewhere in the room.  
Using the rope and his body he did some more exploring and came to the conclusion that the cave was man-made or at least had been improved, it was a perfect circle, exactly 50 meters across and in the exact center of the room was a circular pool of water measuring 5 meters across, far to perfect to be natural.  
With this information he used the rope to perform a tight grid search of the room to try and find the item he was sent there to retrieve.  
When the search came up empty he went to the pool of water and refilled the bottle he had just emptied and after testing it with his reiki he dug out one of the purification tabs and dropped into the bottle, the water in the pool had a pretty fast circulation but the cave was home to a small population of bats causing the water to be unsuitable without purification.  


Sitting down by the tunnel entrance he went over the information he had to try and figure out if he somehow had managed to go to the wrong cave, but that seemed very unlikely, all landmarks lining up perfectly with his map along with the fact that the cave was not natural told him he was most probably at the correct place and that there was some other trick to the test.  
Deciding to sleep on it and try in the morning when he was well rested he made his way to the center of the cave and took of his clothes to wash himself, as he entered the water he found that it was shaped like a doughnut and in the middle was a small altar that instead of being raised above the floor lowered into it. He carefully reached into the depression with all senses on high alert, he did not want to risk triggering a trap at the finish-line after all, a smile spread across his face as his hand found cold metal followed by tightly wrapped leather over ray-skin that ended with cold metal again. It was _Kashira, Tsukaito, Same_ and finally ending in _Tsuba_ in other words, the hilt of a blade, he could also feel the _Menuki_ design but was unable to tell what it was.  


He carefully closed his hand around the hilt and gave a slight tug, ready to drop it at the first sign of danger but the blade slid loose without incident and he slowly ran his hand along the side of the hilt and found that the blade, a long katana, was sealed tightly within its scabbard with an intricate series of knots, this was not a normal blade, it would be very interesting to see it in the morning.  
He carefully returned to the other edge of the pool and found his clothing, placing the katana on the pile of cloth he quickly finished cleaning himself before getting dressed gain and going to the back of the cavern where he soon found sleep, the blade still firmly in his grasp.  


 

Takeshi found himself dreaming and it was unlike any dream he had ever had, even his lucid dreams were not this vivid, this real.

He was still within the round cavern but between him and the pool of water was something he had only ever dreamed he would ever see, it was the very creature whose name he carried.  
The likeness to the statue at the shrine was unmistakable.  
There in all its glory was Kiryu, the demon dragon that was the deity of the Kiryu family.  
Scales so black that they seemed to actually drain the light from its surrounding, long slender talons graced its feet and its maw was filled with glistening razors, a mane of black flames circled its neck and ran along the spine and ended at the tip of its tail flickering like the flame of a giant candle.

“ _A_ _ **re you finally able to hear my voice child**_ _?_ _“  
_ The thundering voice echoed in the cavern and sent a shiver down Takeshi's spine making him move into kowtow in a single smooth motion before responding. _  
“Hai, Kiryu kami-sama! I hear your voice, Lord of the Kiryu line!”  
_ Never before had he felt the need to show anyone such a high level of respect, but this was a deity, a god of the land and the guardian as well as founder of his family and thus for the first time of his admittedly short life he knelt fully, allowing his forehead to touch the ground between his hands.  
When the Ryujin spoke again the voice was somewhat softer but it carried an edge of alarm.  
 _“_ _ **Instead of wasting time displaying what I already know is within your heart I suggest you wake this instant unless you desire to never wake again**_ _”  
_ With this the dream image flickered showing a group of men wearing Shozuku and night-vision goggles entering the cavern.  
 _“_ _ **This is what is happening in the word outside of this dreamscape as we speak.**_ _”  
_ With a start Takeshi got to his feet and quickly bowed to the dragon before forcing himself awake and as sleep left his mind he could feel one last rumble of the great dragons voice _  
__**“By the way boy, I am your Lady, not Lord.”**_ __  
He could have sworn he heard laughter in her tone.  


 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Mountain Trial_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)  


Awake once again he quickly got to his feet and tried to determine where the opponents were, in the dreame he had seen six of them and he had no reason to doubt this was true, focusing he could hear their footsteps, heartbeats and controlled breaths, he still was unable to see though and his opponents could surely see him.  
Chances were he would not live to see the sunrise but he would be damned if he did not at least try, with new focus and determination he grabbed the hilt of the blade he had retrieved and drew it.  
He could hear the gasps of denial from his opponents when he drew the blade free of its scabbard and once it was free he almost dropped it in surprise, the moment the blade had been freed the room seemed to blaze to life with light but a moment later he realized the room was still dark, the light he was seeing emanated from the men in the room and it sank in, he was seeing the very flame of their life-force.  
He could **see them** , not one to waste an opportunity he put all his power into a dashing attack and one of the attackers instantly fell to the blade in his hands, but these were well trained men and the rest of them would not fall as easily.  


It felt like he had been fighting for hours as he sank down against the wall, the cave was dark once again as the last of the attackers had fallen before the blade, he knew not how but somehow he had survived, he had bested six armed men after his life.  
But it had cost him, he had several injuries and he had probably never been this tired ever before but he dutifully cleaned the blade that had no doubt saved his life and returned it to its scabbard only to fall into a deep sleep mere moments later.  


 

“ _ **So you made it out alive child, impressive. Seems I wasn't mistaken about your strength, your power and will to survive.”  
**_ The voice was now now a lot gentler and the massive dragon shrank to a mere fraction of her previous size before walking up to him laying down in his lap despite his attempts to protest.  _ **  
**_ _“_ _ **You are in no shape to resist me now little one, you should just rest and allow me to aid your healing. I may be of demonic origin but I can still use my power to restore your body.**_ _”  
_ He could feel his body relaxing as the pain receded and injuries began healing at an amazing rate and he looked down at the now very small dragon that was coiled in his lap.  
 _“Kiryu-sama, may I ask a few questions?”  
The horned head tilted slightly and looked him in the eye a moment before the dragon responded.  
__**“Ask away little one.”**_ _  
“What is happening, why did you help, who were those assassins and how come I could see their life-flame?”  
_ He fired of his questions in a single breath before looking at the dragon expectantly waiting for her answers. Something she clearly found highly amusing as she let out a bark of laughter before answering him. _  
__**“So inpatient and to the point. This test was to see if I found you worthy, had I not I would not have assisted you and you would not have found the blade, much less been able to draw and wield it, as for the assassins they were sent by the other families to try and take you out before you had a chance to be tried by me”**_ _.  
“And the life-flame, why can I suddenly see them?”  
__**“Oh that one is easy, your reiki has fully awakened, I expect you will be gaining new abilities rapidly from now on.”  
**__“It won't do me much good now though, I have lost way too much time to be able to make it back to the cottage before the time limit.”  
___**“If you do not try then there can be nothing but failure.”**  
With those words the dragon tucked her head down into his lap and appeared to go to sleep and he slipped out of the dream.

When he woke up and made his way out of the cave it was still dark outside but when he checked the timer on the emergency transmitter he realized he had lost an entire day to the deep healing sleep, the timer said he had 28 hours to get back to the cabin where he had started from. Could it even be done?  
As he doubted himself the dragon's words drifted through his mind, and she was right, if he didn't try there was no way he could succeed.  


He looked down the cliff as he considered if he would dare try to go down in the dark, he could see the glinting metal of the hooks he had left in the wall and with a deep breath he made up his mind, this test would be do or die.  
He quickly made his way down and once down he discarded the climbing gear and backpack, he needed to move fast so any weight would just slow him down.  
He ate what herbs and berries he had left in the drawstring bag and tucked the purification tabs and transmitter into it and secured the water bottle at his hip and the sword on his back as it was to long for him to carry at the waist, and with one last look on the map he headed out.  
After spending all that time in the dark cave his eyes seemed to have no problem seeing in the moonlight and his pace increased steadily.  


As dawn broke he was starting to feel desperate as he was still far from his goal, pushing himself to move faster a single thought grew stronger in his mind.  
_Faster, faster, must move faster._  
As the sun rose fully a strange sensation was making its way through his body, his pulse was quickening and it felt like a cold fire was pouring through his veins, suddenly the forest around him became a blur and he feared he had pushed himself to far, that he was passing out.  
But the moment stretched longer and the blur faded into clarity, with a shock he realized he was moving **fast, insanely fast** and he could feel he was on the right track, the clearing with the small cabin like a blazing beacon to his inner eye.  
He guessed it was part of the changes the dragon had predicted he would see now that his reiki had awakened properly.  
_“Not entirely true child, I am lending you my power, my control. I will push your body beyond what you are capable of yourself to ensure your success. Once we arrive you will need time to recover and heal.”_  
He didn't question the silent words within his mind, instead he focused on gratitude and allowed the power to rein freely.  


As the sun began to set he shimmered past the guard at the clearing and stopped in front of Hisao who was sitting on a small stool in front of the cabin door, with a deep breath he presented the sword to his sensei before promptly passing out in the grass.

 


	5. Worthy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takeshi will be sexually active from this point on, though chronologically a minor he has the physical and mental maturity of someone in their late teens.

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Hisao looked at the blade that had been placed into his hand and then to the boy passed out in the grass in front of him and could barely believe the implications, not only had the boy lived but he had passed the test and retrieved the item from the cave.  
And on top of it all he had been tested and found worthy for the true blade that rested in that cave, the first one in over 100 years to have been found worthy by the _Ryujin,_ and bestowed the _Kiryu no Ryuken_ , the dragon-blade of the Kiryu family.

Like all true Ryuken it was forged in dragon-fire from a dragon's fang, tempered with the blood of a dragon, it's hilt wrapped in dragonhide and the decorative _menuki_ carved from either the scales of a dragon or blood-gems, gems as strong as diamonds formed by the intentional crystallization of a dragon's blood.  
The forging of the blade infused it with a small part of the soul of the dragon that forged it and as such allowed its chosen wielder access to the power and magic of a dragon.  
This particular blade was forged by Kiryu, the demonic Ryujin that gave the Kiryu family their name.  
The Ryujin were revered as gods, guardian deities ruling over territories and sometimes like in this case, families.

That Takeshi was found worthy by the Ryujin did not surprise him though, it was the fact that he had been chosen to wield the Ryuken at his first trial.  
He carefully turned Takeshi over and placed the katana in his hands before picking him up and carrying him into the cabin, they would spend the night and head back to Okinawa in the morning.  
Just as he was about to step inside the caw of a crow gave him pause, the sound was out of place in the middle of the night,and the uncharacteristically soft sound was accompanied by a hint of youki that made Takeshi stir slightly.  
But for some reason it seemed to actually calm him as he just turned slightly and there was a hint of a smile on his face that made Hisao wonder just what had happened during the trial.  
Once inside he placed him on one of the small cots and checked him for injuries and found marks from several injuries but they were almost entirely healed and saturated in the massive life-force of a dragon telling him that the healing had been aided which probably meant that the injuries had been serious if not life threatening.

A soft gasp behind him told him that Kasumi had returned from her walk and had seen her brother's injuries, she had been restless all evening so Hisao had suggested she go for a walk while they waited for Takeshi to return, or the time-limit to end.  
“Oh no! Take?!”  
“Shh, let him rest.”  
Hisao quickly caught her before she could touch Takeshi to try to wake him.  
“But he's hurt...”  
”I know he's hurt, but his injuries have been healed with dragon-magic, he will be fine by morning.”  
“This blade, did he?”  
Her voice trailed away, caught between hope and fear.  
“Yes Sumi-chan, he made it. He passed the test.”  
“Is it really the Ryuken?”  
“Yes, it's the Kiryu no Ryuken.”  
Kasumi carefully reached out for the blade and gently touched the hilt.  
“Thank you Kiryu kami-sama.”  
There was a slight pulse of energy, part acknowledgment, part warning.  
Just like Kasumi's own blades the Ryuken would not tolerate being touched by others unless absolutely necessary.  
“Go on, sleep. I will watch over him as he sleeps.”

Morning found them sitting in the car heading back to the small airstrip and Hisao found the trip to be odd, the normally silent siblings were chattering non-stop, Kasumi dragging every last detail of the trial out of her brother and it took him awhile to realize what was different, ever since they had formed the dantai-bond they had used other means of communication, with a start he remembered that he had not removed the bracelets that blocked the link, maybe he was really starting to get old.  
“Okay kids, give me your hands so I can get those things of you before I go deaf.”  
In a flash both their hands were reaching out to him and as soon as they were removed silence descended upon them.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Congratulations Wakasama, I hear you passed your first trials.”  
“Thank you Tsukiko-sama. I did manage, but it was close.”  
“Come. Please, tell me about everything you experienced.”  
Tsukiko motioned for him to walk with her and he quickly fell into step with her and started to tell her about the trials and she listened in silence until he mentioned the storm.

“Are you sure the storm was conjured?”  
“I can't be completely sure. But it felt so wrong, and there was youki on the wind. But it didn't feel like the youki of any of the youkai I have met. It was darker and almost oily, and malicious, tainted by _Sakki_.”  
Sakki, which was short for _Satsu ki_ was the energy of the intent to kill, and should never be sensed in a natural phenomenon.  
“If you sensed sakki, then I would have to agree. So, how did you survive the storm?”  
“Shelter, and a barrier to ward off ill intent.”  
“Wakasama, I can sense that you are holding out on me. I swear, I will not tell anyone.”  
Takeshi hesitated for a moment, but then he sensed the power of a true oath take hold.  
“As I hid, a benevolent youki touched my barrier and layered itself within it, lending it power, offering protection.”  
“Did you recognize the youki?”  
“It was familiar somehow, but I can't place where I may have felt it before. Maybe one of the visitors to the shrine. But I know it felt right, it felt friendly.”

There was a long silence before Takeshi spoke up again, this time his voice was barely a whisper.  
“It felt so good...”  
His voice was tainted by a hint of shame which made Tsukiko stop and tut at him.  
“Takeshi-kun, you have no reason to be ashamed for that. The touch of a benevolent youki can be a rather intense feeling. It can be calming, it can grant joy, and even pleasure. Though, the latter is usually only experienced among those who are sexually mature.”  
The change of address and the last addition made Takeshi blush rather vividly and stutter slightly without finding any words.  
“Worry not youngling. You may be young for a human, or at least you body is. But your mind is mature well beyond your years. And I have seen how you occasionally sneak a peek at the females in the shrine onsen.”  
Takeshi instantly went bright crimson which only made Tsukiko snicker at him.  
“When your body catches up to your mind I will make sure there is someone there for you to help you, to teach you. I know a few young kitsune who would make excellent teachers to help you find yourself.”  
He stuttered a few times before managing to bow and thank her before continuing the story of his trials.

“So, she allowed you to claim her blade did she?”  
“She did, and she helped me survive. She spoke to me in my dreams.”  
“It's called the Dreamscape.”  
“Yeah, I think she mentioned that word. What does it mean?”  
“The Dreamscape is a realm outside our own, a realm where mind rules over matter, time has no relevance. Some reach it through the use of drugs derived from various herbs, while others are able to reach it through meditation.”  
She began telling Takeshi about the Dreamscape and how to reach it, telling him that the dragon would use it to train him.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Takeshi was beyond tired and he was royally pissed off, it had been 6 months since that insane overgrown lizard had decided he made a good “toy”/”torture-victim” and his life ever since had been a living hell.  
Every day was sixteen hours in the dojo with breaks only to eat, drink and occasionally to get patched up and then eight hours of so-called sleep but as soon as he closed his eyes he was pulled into the dreamscape where everything was controlled by the crazy lizard.  
Not that he would ever make the mistake of calling her the _L-word_ when she could hear it again, she had rewarded him for that one by teaching him a lesson in _overcoming pain_ that had lasted for months within the dreamscape all condensed into a single night.  
She used the dreamscape as a mean to personally train him while he slept.

Oh, don't misunderstand, he loved the opportunity to get stronger, he just wished he could get a single night of normal sleep, while in the dreamscape his sleeping body would heal and rest, his mind on the other hand was a different story, he would face endless lessons, opponents created from nothingness by a cruel mistress of the realm and he was ready to snap.

On top of it all he was now going to be dragged almost clear across the world for some stupid party, Kasumi had been invited by the head of the Sakamoto family to attend his sons 20th birthday which was held in Rio de Janeiro of all places, the old fool was hoping Kasumi would take a liking to his equally foolish son and thus give him a chance to acquire the assets of the Kiryu by marriage.  
Unfortunately this meant he would have to go as well, tho not fully trained nor sworn to the duty he was still to become a Kage, and a shadow never strayed from what cast it.  
It would be nice to get a break from the training but he would not be getting the break he really wanted, the dragon had already made perfectly clear she would keep up his nightly sessions without break.

He had spoken with Hisao-hanshi about being allowed to stay behind since he was sure if he went it would not end well but he was told there was no getting out of it so now he found himself standing behind Kasumi while the very intoxicated “birthday-boy” was making very inappropriate passes on his sister and his anger kept growing and growing.  
He was at the ends of his wits by the time it was announced that it was time to retire for the night and he was almost looking forward to obliterating endless shadow-creations in the dreamscape, well almost at least.  
As they were about to enter their room their _host_ stumbled over and grabbed Kasumi's hands and pulled her towards him while suggesting they go to his room and _have some fun.  
_

“Sakamoto-san, please, I am far too young to even consider such things.”  
She tried to avoid his attention without outright refusing him but he remained insistent.  
“Oh, don't be like that. We can have so much fun together. Besides, you might as well learn how to please me for when we get married.”  
Takeshi could feel the shift in Kasumi's mood as she lost her last bit of patience with the fool and his own temper began to rise.  
“Kusoyaro! I will never marry you!”  
Kasumi was not prone to crude language but her anger got the better of her and she tried to yank her hands free but cried out in pain and alarm as Sakamoto pushed her roughly against the wall and told her he would not accept no for an answer and that was it.  
“You will be mine, now and in the future!”

Spurred by her pain and fear Takeshi didn't stop to consider consequences of his actions, instead he closed the distance to the pair faster than the human eye could follow, pulled Arashi & Kuragari, his sisters twin wakizashi, from their place and with a smooth crossing slash he forever ended the foolishness that was the Sakamoto heir.  
Dark power crackled against his skin as the blades voiced their displeasure over being handled by anyone other than Kasumi but he barely noticed, for the first time in months he did not feel the anger.  
A soft sob snapped him out of his daze and he instantly turned to Kasumi and pulled her into his arms.  
“Ssh, easy. You're safe now. He will never hurt you again.”

The incident in Rio caused quite an uproar, the Sakamoto family was demanding an eye for an eye, meaning Takeshi's head on a silver platter but in the end the council had been forced to rule in favor of the Kiryu as Takeshi, though not formally sworn as such, had merely performed his duty as Kage, a duty the council themselves had forced upon him.

There had been one side effect though, something dark had awakened within and he often found himself struggling to stay his hand from delivering a killing blow in the dojo and his training in the dreamscape had taken on an entirely new aspect as the dragon had started teaching him the way of the blade-dancer, a style that emphasized speed, and cutting your opponent into ribbons.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Takeshi was trying to rest when there was a soft knock on his door and he could sense Hisao and someone else outside and he carefully pulled himself up to a seat with a pained groan before calling out.  
“Enter.”  
The other person was an old woman dressed in the red and white miko garb and he instantly liked her energy, it was calm and steady.  
“Takeshi-kun, this is Mizuki-sama, she is a skilled healer and will try to help soothe your pains.”

Hisao had done everything he could to soothe Takeshi's growing pains, but with the addition of the power of the Ryujin it just wasn't enough anymore.  
Takeshi had begun to grow rapidly, his body maturing much faster than it should and now 8 years old he looked about 11 or 12 and the pain caused by the abnormal growth was spiraling out of control.  
“Takeshi-sama, I can sense your pain. Please, allow me to try to soothe it.”  
The old miko ignored introductions in favor for moving to Takeshi's side and gently pushing him back down on the futon and soon he felt surprisingly strong hands work on removing the knots and strain from his muscles.  
When the touch was accompanied by a gentle reiki the pain faded and Takeshi relaxed with a deep sigh and moments later sleep claimed him.

 

_.·:*¨¨*:·.Dreamscape.·:*¨¨*:·.  
_

“ _Please, not tonight. Please!”  
Takeshi was desperate and begged the dragon to allow him to rest.  
**“Come, sit. Tonight you will learn about meditation, about healing yourself.”**  
She motioned for him to sit down among a pile of pillows and once he was seated she shrunk down to about the same size as him and joined him.  
**“I know I have been a harsh teacher, but you need to learn fast if you are to survive.”**  
“I know, I know. It's just... For once I would like a break, just a moment to recover and relax.”  
**“A moment to be a child?”**  
“Yes! Is that really too much to ask for?!”  
**“No, it's not. But unfortunately that is one thing I will not be able to grant you. I may have the luxury to offer you the occasional illusion, but that's all.”**  
As she spoke the scene changed into an amusement park with rides, games, vendors and children running around.  
“Thank you. But you're right, it's just an illusion, empty and void of substance.”  
**“The faster you become Kage, the faster you can get away from them and find yourself freedom and a path of your own to walk. You know Kasumi will give you as much freedom as she can.”**  
“I know. I just don't want to.”  
**“And yet you will, without letting anyone but me hear your complaints, your doubts, because your honor, your heart, will not permit anything else.”**  
“And yet I will...”  
He agreed with a sigh before centering himself and asking her to proceed with the lesson.  
_

_.·:*¨¨*:·.End Dreamscape.·:*¨¨*:·.  
_

 

When Takeshi woke Mizuki was there to greet him. _  
_ “Welcome back Takeshi-kun, Did you rest well?”  
“I did.”  
“And how are you feeling?”  
“Much better. Thank you Miko-sama.” _  
_

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Takeshi's training continued mercilessly, but Mizuki was able to soothe his pain and she taught him many things about accepting fate, about enduring and bending without breaking.  
She also taught him many lessons that wasn't really things a Kage was normally taught, she taught him lessons about inspiring loyalty, about making people do what you wanted them to without asking.  
To enforce obedience without the actual use of force, the kind of things an heir would be taught, knowledge needed by a leader to be able to lead both well and wisely, the secret to being both a good leader, and a liked leader.

His body and mind matured rapidly and before he knew it it was time for his second trial and this time Kasumi was intentionally sent along with him, together they would have to survive a month in the Hokkaido winter.  
He would be expected to protect her and care for her in every way, but the elders once again proved they were not as attentive as they believed themselves to be, they expected her to be the spoiled little princess that would only be a burden to him.  
But Kasumi was quite the capable survivalist, she, just like Takeshi, had greatly enjoyed Hisao's little field-trips and had been an avid student, greedily absorbing everything he and the other instructors hired had to teach.

“Take, come rest, we need to conserve energy and heat.”  
Kasumi called for him from the simple shelter they had built and he ducked in quickly and made sure Kasumi was warm and comfortable.  
“The weather is about to shift, I want to get more wood stacked as well as see if I can manage to catch some food before I rest.”  
“Don't wear yourself out too much. Remember that you become more vulnerable to the elements if tired.”  
“I know sempai.”  
The teasing quip made her glare at him with a huff.  
“I do have energy to burn as Tsukiko-sama gave me a bit of a boost to my reiki before we left. And it takes focus to retain the excess energy so I might as well spend it while I have it, because once I sleep I will lose it.”  
“Okay, but you better not come here and try to sneak cold feet under the covers.”  
Now it was Takeshi's turn to glare and huff which made Kasumi snort at him and shoo him outside.

When he joined her about two hours later he had felled and field-dressed two of the abundant sika deer, the meat would keep well in the freezing weather and he carefully made sure scavengers would not be attracted to the meat.  
“Mmm, warm...”  
Kasumi's mumbling and the way she instantly snuggled closer to him made him shake his head with a smile and carefully nudge her into a more comfortable position.  
“Do you think you can keep watch for a few hours so I can get some proper sleep?”  
“Of course. As long as I get to use you as my own private bed heater.”  
“Mhm, I'm using the last of the extra energy to raise my body temperature so enjoy it while it lasts.”

As usual it only took Takeshi moments to fall asleep, an ability Kasumi envied him for, she always seemed to take forever to fall asleep, though she always did seem to be able to find sleep faster at the times when she was curled up against him.  
He made her feel safe and that made it easier to sleep.  
But she actually enjoyed watching him sleep as well, it was one of the few times she could still tell he was really younger than her, times like now, when he felt safe with her keeping watch, his features would soften and look almost childish again.

He had slept for about 3 hours when she noticed him becoming restless, it would seem he was dreaming, mumbling in his sleep and moments later she sensed youki around them that was slowly growing stronger.  
She carefully tapped into the bond to better decipher his feelings to see if there was any danger, the youki didn't feel malevolent to her, but Takeshi had always had better senses for those things.  
What she felt from him shocked her, there was such a powerful longing within him that it hurt and she could feel tears rolling down her face, then suddenly he bolted awake and rushed outside their shelter with a powerful explosion of reiki.  
For a moment she thought he was reacting to drive away an intruder, but as the overwhelming feeling of being so close to the powerful pulse of power faded she could tell that the pulse was one of greeting and invitation, but it also held a searching edge.

“Take, you never told me you were falling for a youkai. So, tell me, who is she?”  
The fact that he startled slightly at her words told her just how badly shaken he was.  
“What? I'm not...”  
“Don't, I could feel it. That longing, that's love. So who is she?”  
“I don't know whose youki that is, I have never actually seen or met them, I don't have any idea what species it is, or if it's female for that matter. I just know this youki, the feeling of it and how it makes me feel safe.”  
He suddenly turned around and gave her a strange look which made her squirm slightly.  
“If I am falling for this youkai, and they turn out to be male, would that matter? Would it change how you see me?”  
The suddenness of the question gave Kasumi pause and she took the time to turn it over in her mind, something that caused Takeshi's aura to gain an expectant and slightly nervous edge.  
“As long as they are a good person, no. Love is love.”  
The way he instantly relaxed made her snicker at him and call him silly.

“Well, can't you tell me anything about this mysterious youkai?”  
Once back in their shelter she gently prodded him for information again.  
“Not much. I think they are either a _Karasu_ , or _Karasu Tengu_.”  
“What makes you think that?”

The _Karasu youkai_ , or crow demons were common, especially the weaker ones that looked like regular crows were abundant, the truly powerful ones that were able to look human were rare though.  
But the latter applied to all animal youkai those in between looked too different to survive in the human world, either like animals too large for their species, or humanoid with distinct animal features like wings, tails or the ears of an animal.  
Some survived by hiding in one of the youkai friendly shrines or temples, like Naoki, the deer youkai that was one of Tsukiko's assistants, the young man would not be able to live openly among humans without a lot of suffering as he had the antlers of his animal kin.  
But unlike the sika deer he didn't shed his antlers annually, instead he would go through a shedding every 25 after he had gone through his heat, or rut.  
They could be cut off, and Kasumi knew that Naoki had done so occasionally when he was younger, but it caused him a lot of pain and the youkai healing power would quickly make them regrow, though they would be smaller and deformed until the natural shedding.

The _Karasu Tengu,_ or crow tengu _,_ on the other hand were a very rare, and very powerful species of greater youkai, though they shared some traits with their animal youkai relatives their true form were humanoid with wings, but they were able to hide their black wings at will, allowing them to pass for humans.  
It was fairly common for the highly revered tengu to keep lesser crows as pets or familiars of sorts.  
The youkai in question was clearly strong though, so either a very strong crow, or a tengu.

“The first time I ever came in contact with this youki was during my firearms proficiency test in Naha. Remember when I completed the last test and dispersed the reiki I had used to bolster my senses and keep the gun from jamming?”  
“Yeah, it was a lot of energy.”  
“Well,they must have been close by, just outside my range, but I think I startled them with the energy because they vanished instantly and dropped a feather carrying a hint of their youki.”  
Feathered youkai were usually careful about not leaving any feathers behind as the trace of their power, youki, that remained in the item could be used against them, to track them, to curse them.  
“The second time was during my first trial. Remember I told you about a youkai helping me survive the storm by raising a barrier to warn me, and using its youki to help strengthen my barrier?”  
“Yeah, I remember, so that was the same youkai?”  
“Yeah, it was. And now they are here, watching and using their youkai to offer a bit of aid.”  
“It felt like it was trying to offer some moral support as well, it felt so kind, and gentle somehow.”  
Takeshi quickly agreed with her assessment of the youki they had felt, it wasn't just protective, it had felt supportive as well.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

 

It was the night of his 9th birthday and Takeshi sat in the dojo meditating, he had just returned from another one of the councils test, another excuse to try and kill him, he had however bested them yet again.  
This time the assassin sent for his head had not even been able to find him despite being in the same room, Takeshi had learned to harness the dark aspect of his reiki and use it to melt into the shadows and to force part of his will upon others to make them simply not see him, he was in no way invisible they would just not notice he was there.

A small electric pulse from his modified wristwatch told him it was time to go get changed for his party, one of the few times he was allowed a few hours away from training.  
Inspecting his reflection in the mirror he let his mind wander to the past four years, so much had changed, his mind, his soul, his power and his body, the absurd training combined with his reiki and the power of the dragon had changed him in a way no one had expected, he no longer looked like the 9-year-old boy he was but instead the reflection looking back at him appeared to be that of a teen around 15-16 years of age.  
Even Kasumi referred to him as _Nii-san_ nowadays since no one who didn't know better would believe he was the younger of the two.

It had been explained to him that it was a sign of his strength that he had been able to accelerate his body’s maturation in order to be able to withstand the training and according to the dragon he would probably keep growing at an increased rate until his body reached sufficient maturity, which according to her would be when it appeared to be somewhere around 20-25 and she had also claimed it would not have any adverse effect to his lifespan, he would simply stop aging until his true age caught up.

Stepping into the large reception hall he was greeted by the various guests, though few were of his choosing, there was Aoren, the young kitsune who helped him with his marksmanship and of course Satomi, another young kitsune.  
Though she was slightly older than Aoren, she had recently earned her third tail for maturity, making her an adult in the eyes of the kitsune.

Tsukiko had introduced him to Satomi when he had begun to suffer certain _issues_ with his maturing body, his accelerated growth had made going through the stages of sexual maturity worse than for a normal teen.  
Satomi was at the age where young foxes were expected to go out into the world and learn about the pleasures to be had, and to learn to seduce humans, she had already been taught a lot by the older foxes, but they lived by the words that practice makes perfect.  
So while she had learned about being with a human he had learned control over that aspect of himself, and also a great deal about satisfying a partner.  
Daisuke and Misato had not been too happy about the fact that he was sexually active at such a young age, but they accepted it as he clearly had both the physical and mental maturity well beyond his years.

“Congratulations Takeshi-san.”  
As always Satomi's voice held a teasing tone, and the way she brushed her tails against him was a not so subtle invitation to something more intimate and he answered her by brushing his fingers through the tails and giving them a gentle tug.  
He huffed at her when she danced away from him with the bright yipping laugh of her kind, though to be honest he hadn't really expected any other reaction from her, if there was one trait that defined her it was her love for teasing.

After the usual offerings and change of pleasantries Takeshi excused himself for a while to find some solitude in the garden, asking the guests to enjoy themselves while he took the time to thank the Kami for the year that had passed.  
He wasn't out there to seek the gods though, he just needed to get away from all the people, all the falseness.  
Looking up at the dark sky he took a deep breath and began to unfurl his aura slightly, allowing the reiki to flow more freely and relaxed around him and as he did he felt a tickle of familiar youki along the edge of his senses, it would seem his mystery friend was nearby.  
A soft caw drew his attention to a nearby light pole where a pair of crows were seated, they were quite obviously lesser crow demons acting on someone else's will.  
The larger one held a package in its beak while the smaller one flitted around in a somewhat nervous manner.

"Come here, I won't hurt you.”  
Takeshi held out his hand to the crows while making sure to school his aura into something none threatening and the larger crow quickly landed on his outreached arm and presented him with the parcel it was carrying.  
“A gift for me?”  
“Hai, hai!”  
Its speech was somewhat crude but fully intelligible and Takeshi took the offered gift and after some prompting he carefully opened it which revealed an ornate box and within the box a beautifully crafted quill pen.  
A closer inspection revealed it to be a mix between a reservoir pen and a quill pen as the intricately carved handle that connected the feather and the gold nib housed a small ink reservoir.  
Along with the gold nib there was also gold decorations on the feather and the agate that the handle was carved from was banded with gold, all in all it was a very beautiful item and he could feel there was enchantments woven into it, no doubt to make it near indestructible.  
There was also a faint youki emanating from the ink bottle and a discreet sniff at it revealed it to be squid ink, no doubt from a youkai, and Takeshi suspected it was the kind used to write hidden messages.  
Keyed to a specific youki or reiki it was invisible to anyone other than those it was intended for, it was quite the expensive gift, and Takeshi had no doubt that it was keyed to him and the, for now at least, unknown youkai.  
A soft, almost hesitant caw drew his attention to the smaller crow, and the pack carried on its back.  
“Come here little one. Let me see what you have there.”  
It took a bit of convincing, but when Takeshi offered a piece of dried fruit he had in his pocket the crow allowed him to remove the message from the pack.  
The folded paper appeared blank, but aware of the properties of the special ink he gently flared his aura and as he suspected the text was quickly revealed.

  

 

 

 

 

> _Happy Birthday Take-kun  
>  _
> 
> _I am sorry I can not reveal myself to you yet, but I can at least give you a few gifts and hope you are willing to use them to allow us to get to know each other a bit better.  
>  This crow hanyou is one of those gifts, her name is Sora.  
>  I have been her caretaker ever since she was barely fledged, and now I turn her over to you.  
>  She has been treated poorly by youkai, mortal birds and humans alike, but I know you will be able to earn her trust and she is a loyal creature who will be more than happy to carry messages for you.  
>  //Someone who cares a great deal about you_

 

The somewhat intimate choice of words made Takeshi smile, it felt good, it felt right.  
“Thank you. I will look forward to the chance to get to know you, even though I would have preferred to meet you.”  
He kept his voice low, he had no doubt the youkai would hear him anyway and the slight shift in the youki spoke of relief, and amused agreement.  
“I have one request though, would you please consider visiting at times and just allow me to feel your youki?”  
The energy turned contemplative, but after a few moments Takeshi could feel the power rising, allowing him to get a better feel for it, and when his own reiki rose in answer there was a slight tingling sensation as the fundamentally opposite energies sizzled against each other.

When the youki withdrew again it became apologetic before flaring slightly and vanishing, his secret guest unable to stay any longer.  
“Well, Sora, how about we go back inside and see if we can't find you some more treats?”  
The happy sound that answered him sounded more like a chirp than a caw and moments later Sora was perched on his shoulder, but he could feel her fear and suspicion toward the other guests and there was a tension to her that told Takeshi she was ready to bolt at the slightest problem.  
Fortunately no one wanted to risk insulting him so they kept their mouths shut about his new companion, though there were some crooked looks as he walked over to the long table filled with various appetizers and filled a plate with various items for her and taking a seat.

“Take-kun, who is your new friend?”  
Kasumi's aura was bubbling with curiosity as she took a seat across the table and carefully leaned in to look closer at Sora who was demolishing a makizushi piece to get at the fillings.  
“This pretty little creature is Sora, and she is a _**very special, very treasured**_ , gift from a certain someone.”  
“Oh, _they_ visited? Tell me about them!”  
“Well, we didn't actually meet. They were close enough to hear me, but hidden, only allowing me to feel their aura, so we communicated a bit and I received a few gifts.”  
The revelation that he hadn't actually met the youkai made Kasumi snort in amusement and demand he show her what else he had been given which he quickly did.  
“So, a youkai pen-pal, and little Sora, you will carry their messages on swift wings and guard them with a clever mind and loyal heart?”  
The way Sora puffed her feathers made it quite obvious that Kasumi had earned herself a new friend.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

The Kiryu estate was buzzing with activity, a new shinobi was to be given their blade and ink today, the proof that they had passed their training and was ready to take on the tasks of their path.  
But this time it was different, never before had someone so young been given the title of full shinobi and Hisao was proud that his student was the one to accomplish this feat.  
He greeted a small group of guests and brought them to the small reception room where the ceremony would be held and watched as they unpacked a large number of vials onto a low table next to a small elevated futon and started mixing the contents.  
He walked over to the inner sanctum of the shrine to get Takeshi and make sure he was as ready for his big day as he could be, once inside he found the boy in his favorite place atop one of the pillars that held up the ceiling beams, there was no sign of the messenger crow though.  
The creature was probably out delivering the message that Takeshi was about to receive his tattoo.

“Takeshi-san it is time to get dressed.”  
He called out and Takeshi dropped down silent as a shadow, he could never hear him approach anymore unless he wanted to be heard.

Takeshi had been sitting in the calm of the shrine contemplating the past year, he could barely believe of fast it had flown by but he was convinced it was his youkai friend who was the cause.  
They had been communicating frequently and everything that Takeshi had learned about them only made him more eager to meet them at last, but he was a bit nervous about it as well, he was falling for them despite having never met, and he was scared that meeting for real would reveal something to shatter the image he had of them.

Hisao instantly noticed the way Takeshi rubbed his hands against the back of his pants, a habit he had developed since returning from his final test a month ago and he quickly grabbed the hands and held them between his own, turning them over to show that they were in fact clean.  
“Take, look. There is no blood on your hands. Any blood shed during that cursed tournament is on the hands of the Council, not yours.”  
He intentionally didn't use any honorifics, even dropped _Keigo_ , the respectful manner of speech normally used and switched to a far more intimate and familial pattern to further emphasize his words.  
It did have some effect, but not as much as Hisao had hoped as Takeshi pulled his hands back and was clearly struggling not to hide them, he knew though that once they left the safety of the shrine Takeshi would seem unbothered by it, only to start again once he was somewhere where he felt safe.  
For what must have been the millionth time Hisao found himself silently cursing the Council, the last trial had just been too much.  
They had forced Takeshi to participate in the _Ketsueki no T_ _ō_ , the Tower of Blood, it was the world's deadliest underground tournament, and it had been the Council's last ditch attempt to kill Takeshi before they had to accept him as shinobi, and Kage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> The rules were simple:  
>    
>  1: Each bout was fought in a cage style arena where two fighters enter and one leaves, alive at least.  
>  This rule was non-negotiable, if a fighter refused to kill his defeated opponent both would be killed and the next match-up seeded to their level.  
>    
>  2: Most forms of traditional weapons were allowed, not just blades, garrote snares and throwing weapons, but also poison, smaller, simple explosives and small, low power, blowguns.  
>    
>  It did not extend to projectile weapons such as bows, crossbows or firearms though and the explosives had to be the traditional handcrafted type, like the smoke-bombs used by shinobi, no modern versions or high explosives like grenades were allowed.  
>    
>  3: Only humans were allowed to participate, but most performance enhancing drugs were permitted, the exception being youkai or demon blood or power infusions as that would classify the fighter as hanyou, halfdemon.  
>  There was however no restriction on reiki based abilities such as the ones Takeshi was able to use, nor meta human abilities based in on genetic mutations such as telepathy and telekinesis.  
>  Cybernetics however were classified as a modern weapon and thus not permitted.

 

 

The last rule had caused some issues with Takeshi's weapons though as both the Ryuken and his usual blade forged by Doufaran were banned for being demonic, but he was just as deadly with the twin tactical blades that Doufaran had rushed to make for him when Takeshi's entry to the Tower had been revealed to him.  
As many contestants used normal weapons forged by Doufaran he attended the tournament each time it was held and would always receive an update whenever a new contestant was entered, and about a month before the tournament Takeshi's name had appeared.  
Instantly realizing what was going on Doufaran scrambled to make weapons for Takeshi, and he contacted a colleague who specialized in armor, specifically light armor and cloth armor, usually made from demonic materials, but they also worked with modern materials such as artificial spider-silk and nano-materials such as buckypaper and graphene.  
At Takeshi's arrival at the tournament Doufaran waited for him and gifted him with a package of weapons and gear while taking care of his demonic items for him.

There were no classes for weight, age or gender, about 10% of the contestants were female, and they tended to be just as deadly as the males, most using techniques relying on speed and agility.

Despite it's bloody nature the tournament drew hundreds of competitors from all over the world each time it was held, which was every 5 years, all of them hoping to get their hands on the prize money.  
Between entry fees, sponsorships and fees on betting the end pot tended to be the equivalent of roughly 3-5.000.000 US dollars for each competitor, most fighters had their fees paid by the wealthy sponsors who would then bet on their fighters.  
There were some though who paid their own way in hope of making it big, usually fighters with a background in other underground arenas.

The Council had entered Takeshi into the tournament in hoped he would die, but he had survived, Hisao wouldn't claim it was the same person that returned though, Takeshi had changed, become darker, but he hid it well.  
He silently cursed himself as well as he remembered that Takeshi only looked like he was about 18-20, the truth was that beneath it all there was still just a 10 year old boy and the Tower of Blood could easily break an adult.

“Go on, the Irezumi do not like to be kept waiting.”  
Hisao gave Takeshi a gentle nudge toward his small room and once there he waited outside for him to get changed.

In Takeshi's room a simple cut black Haori and Hakama had been brought for him to wear and he silently donned the clothing with no small amount of trepidation, he only had a vague idea of what to expect during the ceremony today but he knew not everyone survived it.  
Putting on the tabi and zori he stepped out and followed Hisao to the room where the ceremony would be held.  
Even before they entered the room he picked up the scent of Sumi inks telling him that the Irezumi, the tattooers, were getting ready in the room, however the scents of several toxins, potent poisons and venoms from various animals and plants, had him on edge but none of this showed as he entered with his head held high.  
Before him in the room was the council, Daisuke, Misato and a group of Irezumi, he was somewhat surprised that Kasumi was not there but he carefully hid all expressions, he could not afford to give anything away here.

After a short presentation and formal address he was given the title of _Shinobi_ and given a simple but well made katana, it was entirely black, even the blade had been carefully worked so that its finish was a matte black, this was the blade of an assassin made so that it would not reflect light and risk revealing a position.

He would of course be using the Ryuken most of the time, but for now the blade rested in the shrine until the marking was done, there would be another ceremony in one week assuming he survived, where he would be allowed to take it.  
It wouldn't be formally presented to him until the day he turned 20 though.

After taking the blade he was ordered to remove his clothing and lay down on the elevated futon before the Irezumi, this was the part that had him worried as he had been informed that it was a form of test in itself, if he cried out at any time during the process of receiving the tattoo his life would be forfeit and now that he was here he understood just how much of a challenge that might be, the scent of poisons and venoms he had smelled came from the low table where the inks was being prepared.  
A piece of flat stone with a number of circular indentations in the surface had been placed on the table and a small amount of pigment had been added in each hole and an array of vials holding the potentially deadly substances were lined up beside it.  
As he lowered himself onto the futon he watched the assistant Irezumi added a small amount into the pigment in the first indentation and mixed it with the pigment.

The master Irezumi spoke as he picked up his tools  
“Today you will receive your dragon or die, break your silence before the work is done and your life is forfeit. If you are too weak to withstand the ink, you will die.”  
Takeshi turned his head to Hisao as he asked the question on his mind.  
“Hisao-hanshi, what of Kasumi, will she have to bear the pain through the bond?”  
Hisao gave him a small smile and shook his head.  
“Don't worry, for this trial she has been sealed away so she can't sense you.”  
Satisfied with the response Takeshi looked to the Irezumi and gave a short nod.  
“Lets do this!”  
With s deep breath he set his head down and began taking control of his breathing and heartbeats.

He could feel a hand on his back and the scent of a toxin then there was nothing but pain, all consuming, white hot, pain that seared his very soul, clamping down the control he held over his body he forced himself to remain still and silent.  
He didn't know how long time had passed as the scents of one deadly substance after another was painted into his body and he could feel his control starting to slip but he would be damned if he lost now so with one final push he forced his way into the dreamscape, leaving his body frozen, unable to betray him.

 

_.·:*¨¨*:·.-Dreamscape-.·:*¨¨*:·.  
_

“ _ **How fitting that you come here to hide from your marking.** ”  
The dragon taunted him but he did not take the bait, after all the time spent with her he knew better.  
“Does it really matter how I beat this final trial? Isn't this world part of the strength I have gained?”  
He retorted with a snort.  
“T **rue enough, though it will take more than this for you to survive this time. They have once again decided to kill you, the substances mixed with the pigment are normally diluted so that they merely cause pain and kill the weak however they are all at full potency for you.** ”  
At this he cursed and prepared to forcefully wake himself and get rid of those that would try to kill him but the old dragon stopped him.  
“ **Waking will not help you, it would merely hasten your demise. I will feed some of my blood into your body and keep you alive, but be warned, the blood of a dragon is a potent toxin in itself but at least you will have a chance of living through it** ”.  
_

_They watched from within the dreamscape as the form of a black dragon crowned with black flames, crimson eyes and blood on its claws was slowly etched into his skin and several times throughout the following days his heart slowed and came close to stopping, but it never did.  
At the evening of the 3 rd day the Irezumi rose and informed the witnesses that it was done, that it was now up to the young Shinobi if he woke or perished.  
And with that he was cast out from the dreamscape.  
_

_.·:*¨¨*:·.-End Dreamscape-.·:*¨¨*:·.  
_

 

Takeshi woke with a pulse of youki from the blood bestowed upon him by the Ryujin and a moment later his own reiki rose and forced his heart back to its normal rhythm and he opened his eyes to the shocked faces of the Irezumi and council elders.  
He swayed for a moment before he found his balance and turned to look at the head of council straight in the eye as he spoke with force  
“I have passed your trials, now let me place my wows so I can be rid of your presence!”  
He could feel the fear radiating of the elder as he ordered Kasumi to be brought into the room and for once Takeshi didn't resist the wicked grin that graced his featured.

One knee to the floor he forever surrendered his name and future to become Kasumi's shadow.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

With the oath placed Takeshi headed back toward the shrine to wash himself and spend some time soaking in the onsen of the shrine, it had healing and purifying properties that would help neutralize the toxins.  
“Stop! Kasumi-sama you must not touch his skin, he is still covered in the toxins.”  
Tsukiko quickly stopped Kasumi from helping Takeshi.  
“Why don't you go sleep? I will help him. I'm youkai so those toxins won't harm me.”  
“Okay Tsukiko-sama. Please look after my Kage.”  
There was a slight hesitancy in her voice, but when Takeshi nodded for her to go she agreed and the moment she was out of sigh he staggered and was caught by Tsukiko.

“Easy, I have you. Lean on me if you need to.”  
He swayed noticeably, but managed to walk to the washing area of the onsen without much help, but the relief to sit down was noticeable.  
“Mizuki-sama has prepared this ointment for you, it will help your healing. Please, allow me to wash and treat you.”  
Takeshi just nodded mutely and held still as Tsukiko carefully washed his body to get rid of the built up sweat and Irezumi's toxins before applying the slightly warm substance to the abused skin where the dragon now decorated his body.  
“Go on, get in the water, it will do you good. I will keep watch so you don't fall asleep and drown yourself.”  
The last bit was added in teasing humor, Takeshi was fully able to sleep in the onsen without ending up under the surface and had been so for a good while.

Takeshi estimated he had been in the water for about 20 minutes when soft footsteps from the entrance drew his attention and looking up he found that it was a fairly young looking man, or rather male as the energies around him made it obvious it was a youkai.  
“Ah, Kiryu no Kage-sama, pardon my intrusion. May I join you?”  
The onsen was open for the visitors of the shrine, so asking was done as a token of respect.  
“Of course. I hope the scent of the Irezumi's vile concoctions doesn't offend your senses.”  
“Thank you Kage-sama. And no, not at all. In fact they are mostly overpowered by your natural scent.”  
Takeshi was just about to apologize about his scent, he knew some youkai were very sensitive to some aspects of human scent, some for instance found the scent or mortality to be unsettling or even revolting.  
“And before you say anything, I find your scent to be quite pleasant.”

The somewhat teasing forwardness made Takeshi snort at the guest before leaning back again, but the rustle of cloth drew his eyes toward the visitor and he found himself compelled to watch as he undressed and washed himself.  
The sudden surge of heat in his belly surprised Takeshi and he quickly averted his gaze from the youkai, but he knew it was probably too late, youkai senses were strong and his scent probably already betrayed his reaction.

“Don't worry Kage-sama. I take no offense that you find my form to be pleasing, quite the opposite. And given your permission I fully intend to get myself a good look at you as well so you may as well have your fill.”  
The quite obvious flirting threw Takeshi off for a moment, but he quickly found he didn't mind.  
“And if I deny you this permission?”  
“Then I will pretend to honor your wishes while doing my best to sneak a good peak anyway.”  
This time Takeshi laughed at the teasing answer, he found the flirting banter to be relaxing, but soon he froze slightly as it occurred to him that the way the youkai spoke seemed somewhat familiar so he reached out with what little reiki he had left and brushed against the youki of the teasing male, but the energy was not familiar, instead it felt somewhat strange.

“Oh my, curious are we?”  
“I feel like I know you somehow...”  
Takeshi watched as the male entered the water, almost mesmerized by the way his long, black hair swayed slightly as he moved before spreading across the water.  
“Who knows, maybe you do.”  
The look Takeshi received seemed almost expectant and he found himself overcome by a mixture of hope and fear that made his breath and pulse quicken.  
Could it really be?  
“It's... It's really you, isn't it?”  
He was rewarded with a soft smile as the youkai reached up took hold of something around his neck, something that Takeshi realized must have been shielded by magic as he hadn't seen it before.  
A quick yank snapped the chain that held the talisman in place and it was revealed to be a crow's foot, a tool favored by the Karasu Tengu and with a quick motion it was crushed by a powerful hand and the male's true youki flowed free and black wings appeared behind him.  
“You!”  
The single word was a mix between relief, joy, accusation and exasperation but was quickly replaced by a muffled sound of surprise as Takeshi found a naked body pressed tightly against his own and hungry lips claiming a taste.

“Oh, Kami! How I have longed for this day. You taste absolutely divine!”  
The words whispered against his lips spurred Takeshi from his stupor and he returned the kiss, a bit softer, but no less hungry and after a moment he pushed slightly at the male, trying to take control of the kiss.  
For a moment there was resistance and it made Takeshi hesitate a bit, dominance could be quite an issue with youkai, especially males.  
“So, you want to be the one in charge do you? I had a feeling you might be quite dominant. Don't worry, I'm more than happy to submit.”  
When he lowered himself slightly and tilted his head back Takeshi leaned in and kissed the exposed throat before suckling gently at a spot just above the sternum.  
After a while there was a soft hiss of surprise that almost made Takeshi let go, but before he had a chance to hand snaked into his hair and pulled him almost harshly against the spot.  
“Your reiki, the burn, more...”  
When he pulled back there was a noticeable red mark on the skin, and it wasn't healing as expected of a youkai which had Takeshi slightly concerned.  
“Your reiki prevents my youki from healing it, it will heal about the same rate as it would on a human.”

The explanation was followed by a displeased tutting.  
“Your eyes are gray, I shouldn't have made you expend what little reiki you have left. I'm sorry.”  
He quickly moved and sat down next to Takeshi instead and leaned into his side and Takeshi noted that while he was taller than the average Japanese man, most youkai were, he was still quite a bit shorter than he was himself.  
“Rest and let's talk. We can explore other other things when you have recovered. It wouldn't be much fun anyway if you are not in shape to fully enjoy things.”  
Takeshi huffed at the teasing quip, but he did agree, he would much rather explore the body of his companion when he was feeling a bit better.

That didn't stop them from doing some exploring though, and Takeshi quickly found that being intimate with this male was quite different from being with Satomi, while she was also youkai, with all the strength and the power, she was soft and yielding.  
This youkai was obviously older, and stronger, and while he allowed Takeshi to lead, to set the pace, he did so without surrendering control.

The feeling of lips brushing against an over-sensitized nipple made him suck in a breath with a hiss.  
“Oh, you liked that didn't you?”  
Slender fingers tipped with claws quickly found the other nipple and gently brushed over it which made Takeshi gasp for air before grabbing hold of the black haired head and pulling it tighter against his chest.  
“More... I need more...”  
He wasn't entirely sure what it was he needed, just that he needed more, he needed to **feel**.  
“Like this?”  
The sensation when his companion gently suckled on the nipple before rolling it between his teeth set his senses on fire and almost sent him over the edge.  
“Yes!”  
He pulled the head almost roughly against his chest, demanding more and he could feel a smile against his heated skin.  
“Do you want me to bite? To taste a bit of pain?”  
Takeshi just nodded into his hair and when sharp teeth and claws bit into him he nearly cried out in pleasure.  
“Yes! Harder!”

As the night progressed Takeshi learned many new things about himself, he also learned that his tengu was mindful about pushing him, worried about pressuring him into anything and he found himself growing fonder of him by the hour.

 

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Worthy_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

The following week was spent within the shrine, recovering and getting to know Hiroto.

The youkai's name had caused Kasumi to tease Takeshi mercilessly as she had walked into his room in the morning to find him in bed with another male, and unable to introduce said male as he had never thought to ask for his name during their long talk.

“Hiro, I know you like to play with my hair, but I do need to be ready on time.”  
Hiroto had offered to brush and braid Takeshi's hair in preparation for the last part of the acceptance ceremony when he would get the ryuken back, it was a small, private event, just him, Kasumi, Daisuke and Misato, Hisao, Tsukiko, Mizuki and Hiroto along with a representative for the Coucil.  
“Spoilsport...”  
Hiroto huffed but completed the braid and tied it of with a small piece of string.  
“There, all done.”

After a short speech Hisao held out a box containing the ryuken and when Takeshi drew the blade Kiryu's youki flared to life and burned every last trace of the inks from his skin and replaced them with a marking forged of youki and blood, and when the power settled true scales adorned the mark.

“Beautiful....”  
Hiroto's whispered words made Takeshi smile, but when a sharp claw gently traced the scales Takeshi gasped for breath, the sensation was intensely pleasurable.

 


	6. Conscript

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

 

“Take, I'm bored.”  
Takeshi just rolled his eyes at Hiroto's whispered complaints and moved slightly as the youkai crawled into his lap and tried to amuse himself.  
The tengu was intelligent and well read, but Takeshi had quickly found that he hated studying and that he was positively infantile in his search for distractions.  
“Hiroto-san. I am sure we could think of something for you to do to keep you occupied without you accosting my student.”  
Yasu Saitou didn't turn from the presentation on the screen, but there was a hint of steel in his voice that made it quite clear that he had reached his limit for how much disruptions he could accept.  
_“Yabai!”_  
Hiroto's expression instantly went from a teasing mock pout to a rather obvious _Oh Shit!_ and he quickly straighten up.  
“How about I go pick up the usual lunch selection from Tanaka's?”  
It may have sounded like an offer from Hiroto but he was simply preempting Saitou's suggestion that was not actually a suggestion.  
“Oh that sounds like a delightful idea. How about you order the 10man tempura spread from that nice little place along the road as well.”  
“If I may suggest, I have found that the birthday special has a far superior selection, and I have no doubt that between myself and our dear Kage here there will be no leftovers to worry about.”

After receiving his tattoo and the blade Takeshi's development had accelerated again and he was eating more like a youkai than a human, meaning he needed a lot of food, he would eat like 5 to 10 grown men, and most of it of protein and fat.  
That meant large amounts of meat, fish, fowl and seafood served with rice, the brown wholegrain when possible, and a side of fresh vegetables and fruits.  
Takeshi had been somewhat concerned at first when he began to gain weight rapidly but he soon noticed that despite the rapid weight-gain his body wasn't changing noticeably, instead his bones and muscles were growing stronger, denser and he was gaining in strength.  
The old ryujin had also taught him how to use his reiki to offset the effect of his weight so that his abnormal weight wouldn't be noticed.

“Oh that's your choice, it's your money after all.”  
Takeshi snickered at the slightly annoyed flicker in Hiroto's aura, he knew the youkai wasn't actually upset with Saitou for making him run errands and pay for them all, he was upset with himself for getting caught trying to distract Takeshi.

Not wanting to waste the money he had won in the Tower or Blood, Takeshi had asked to receive extra lessons in business management and investment strategies and Yasu Saitou had been selected to teach him as he was a junior employee and recent graduate so his education was fresh while he had had the time to learn a bit about how things really worked.

“I'm sorry Saitou-sensei. I have tried to talk him into staying at home, but he refuses to concede on this particular point.”  
“It's okay. He isn't as much of a bother as I may make it seem at times. As for getting him to stay, well, he's youkai, and you're not.”  
“Doesn't mean he has to watch over me all the time...”  
Takeshi huffed slightly at the implication that he couldn't take care of himself.  
“His youma has chosen you, hasn't it?”  
The very private question startled Takeshi somewhat and for a moment he just stared at Saitou.  
“Yeah, it has...”

All higher demons, especially those able to take human form, had a _Youma_ , a sort of spirit beast, within that represented their more primal instincts, and it held great sway in matters of the heart.

“Congratulations.”  
For a moment Takeshi didn't understand why Saitou congratulated him, but then he recalled the rumors around the office that his fiancée had betrayed him and had been found with another man.  
The loyalty of most youkai species toward the one their youma chose was legendary, many going as far as being incapable of being with another, suffering excruciating pain or being unable to _perform_.  
“Thank you sensei.”  
“That youkai better not be pressuring you though. Despite everything you are still just a kid.”  
The strong surge of protectiveness Takeshi could sense from Saitou made him smile. Despite only being more distant relative in one of the Kiryu branch families Saitou had been trusted with the truth about Takeshi.  
“No, he is very careful about that. He teases, whines and wheedles but he always makes sure I don't do something unless I truly want to. It can be rather annoying at times.”  
It felt good to talk about things with someone who was somewhat of a peer, even if not actually a friend.  
“He is a good man, eh, male, then.”  
“He is.”

After eating Takeshi and Hiroto snuck up to the small garden on the roof of the building and with Sora's help they managed to get a bit of privacy, the personnel of the security room was not too happy about the crow covering one of the security cameras though.  
“Not already...”  
Hiroto complained with a groan as Takeshi's phone beeped to tell him that lunch break was over and it was time to return to Saitou's office and continue the studies.  
“Aren't you supposed to be the mature one?”  
Takeshi teased with one last kiss before rising from the bench and calling for Sora who swiftly landed on on his arm and he gave the large beak a quick peck.  
“Thank you my pretty.”  
Sora puffed her feathers and preened for a moment before taking off into one of the small trees to wait for the next break.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“A gift? For me?”  
Hiroto was brimming with excitement, to the point where the feathers of his wings were vibrating with nervous power and he was constantly flicking and shifting the wings in a displaced fight or flight response.  
“Mhm, you always give me something for my birthday but I never gave you anything.”  
“You don't have to. I have you, that is plenty enough for me.”  
Takeshi huffed at the somewhat sappy reply and pushed the small box into Hiroto's hands.  
“Since you don't really know when your birthday is or even what year you were born I went with an anniversary gift rather than a birthday gift and picked the first day I felt your youki.”

One of the things Takeshi loved about Hiroto was his absolute childish joy at even simple things, despite his age, even Hiroto himself didn't know exactly how old he was, but he did recall attending the funeral of Himiko, Shamaness Queen of Wa, as a child, meaning he would be at least around 1800 years old.

“Yes, you can open it now.”  
Takeshi shook his head with an amused sigh as Hiroto quickly opened the box and revealed the contents, a heavy men's bangle in the shape of a dragon.  
“It's Kiryu-sama... You created this? What in the world is it made of?”  
“I did, with some help. Remember when you had to leave for 2 weeks for that big clan meeting in Fuji?”  
“Yeah...”  
“Well, I have been thinking about making something for you for a while now and after experimenting with something that Aoren-san taught me and combined it with something I learned from Kiryu-sama I took the opportunity to visit Doufaran-sensei and have him help me make the alloy that is the base of it.”  
“But it's not metal is it?”  
Hiroto turned the bangle over and studied it closely.  
“It's enchanted metal covered in blood crystal.”  
Hiroto's smile became even brighter, then turned somewhat confused.  
“How do I open it so I can put it on?”  
“Like this.”  
Takeshi touched the head of the dragon with a spark of reiki and activated the hidden mechanism inside and a lock opened, revealing two halves held together by a hidden hinge.  
Placing it around Hiroto's arm he closed it and with another spark of reiki he sealed the lock before looking at Hiroto with a wide grin.  
“There, no one but me can open it. Not even you.”  
Takeshi's words didn't stop Hiroto from trying though, but he did so with a very happy smile.

“So are you going to play with it all night, or do I get a proper thank you?”  
The teasing question made Hiroto freeze for a moment before spinning around, pouncing on Takeshi and trailing kisses along his jaw while straddling him.  
“Take! Hiro! You guys have a room, use it!”  
It didn't take long before Kasumi complained about their activities and Hiroto responded by demonstratively leaning if for a deeper kiss before pulling back with a low whine when Takeshi denied him.  
“She does have a point you know. Wouldn't want to piss her off now would we?”  
“I guess that would be bad...”  
Hiroto gave Kasumi a somewhat nervous look, the last time he had managed to piss her off she had forbidden Takeshi from allowing him in his room for a week.  
“Don't worry Hiro-kun, you make my Kage happy so I will tolerate most of your antics.”  
“Most kind of you Kasumi-sama.”  
Takeshi smiled at the playful bantering between Hiroto and Kasumi and silently counted down to the explosion.  
“I said most, and that is one of those not included!”  
“Gomen Sumi-chan!”  
Kasumi had demanded that he not use all the honorifics and titles with her while they were in private.  
“That's better. Now get going you two, I have seen too much already.”

Takeshi knew something that would mortify Kasumi if she knew he was aware though.  
She would often go out to the small private onsen at the back of the property when she knew Takeshi and Hiroto were there and she would sneak closer under the cover of his aura to watch them together.  
She would try to hide her reactions from him but she was nowhere near as good at it as he was so he would sense the confused mixture of curiosity and arousal with a hint of fear and shame while she wouldn't notice that he had sensed her.  
And lately he could tell that she was pleasuring herself as she watched them, and Hiroto had noticed that something was going on due to Takeshi's reaction to the feedback she was broadcasting over the bond.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Hiro-kun, a moment of your time while Take meditates?”  
“Of course Sumi-chan.”  
Hiroto followed Kasumi into her small study while Mizuki worked with Takeshi on his reiki control.

“Hiro, do you have a passport?”  
“No, but my clan has contacts so I can have one arranged along with any travel documents needed.”  
He looked at her and for a moment the youthful playfulness vanished and was replaced by an expression more fitting his true age.  
“Your plans for moving to Miami have progressed?”  
“They have, I have acquired the perfect piece of land and contractors are working on the house as we speak.”  
Hiroto instantly broke into a brilliant smile and congratulated her on the progress.

“It will do you both good to get away from under the thumb of the council.”  
“Take more than anything though. He's so strong, but they have hurt him so badly. He hides it well, but the dantai bond gives me glimpses of it, or how vulnerable he feels at times. Seeing him and interacting with him it's so easy to forget how young he really is.”  
“Indeed. If I didn't think he would see it as more blood on his own hands I would kill them all for making him fight in the Tower of Blood. I still catch him scrubbing his hands raw, or hesitating to touch me without trying to remove blood that isn't there.”  
Reaching out he brushed the back of his hand against the side of her face.  
“Don't forget, you are little more than a child yourself. You need this as well. Your great grandparents have tried to protect you, but against the council there is not much they can do. You both need to feel safe, you need a chance to grow and find your own paths.”  
Kasumi leaned into the touch for a moment before huffing at him.  
“Who said you were allowed to be all mature and sagelike all of a sudden?”  
Hiroto shook his head with a smile before leaning in and giving her a kiss on the forehead before pulling back with a pained hiss as his youma warned him that the act was crossing the line for how much intimacy it could tolerate toward anyone but its chosen one.  
“I am what I am.”  
“That you are, Tengu.”

The tengu were famous for their wisdom, often described as sages and mountain hermits, the greater karasu tribes were said to be the wisest.

“Sumi-chan, my youma chose Take the first time it sensed his reiki, while he was but an infant. Over time, watching him, getting to know him, I have grown to love him deeply. But in watching him I have also seen you, and I do care deeply for you as well.”  
Pulling her into a hug Hiroto held her for a moment before speaking again.  
“Sumi-chan, I know.”  
For a moment she froze, then she relaxed and rested her head against his shoulder:  
“I truly am sorry, but tengu are strictly monogamous once our youma have made the choice.”  
“I know. And I know it's not really real anyway, it's just a stupid crush. The way you love Take, it's just so damned perfect, how could I not have a crush on someone like that?”  
“No Sumi-chan. Never denigrate your feelings like that, it may be a crush, but that doesn't make it any less real, and it's most certainly not _just, only,_ or _stupid_.”

When Takeshi joined them in the study Kasumi was curled up in Hiroto's lap so he simply sat down next to them and pulled Hiroto against him.  
“I see you finally managed to speak about your feelings Sumi.”  
“Actually Hiro was the one to bring it up.”  
At that Takeshi gave Hiroto a somewhat crooked look.  
“I know you wanted to wait for her to bring it up herself, but she was beating herself up over it.”  
“It's okay, I'm not upset.”  
When he leaned in and kissed Hiroto they were interrupted by a rather sharp breath and a strong scent of arousal from Kasumi before she began to move away from them.  
With a quick look at Takeshi to see if he agreed Hiroto steeled himself against pain and leaned in to give Kasumi a quick kiss but after a moment he pulled back in surprise.  
“There's no pain...”  
Kasumi just watched in stunned silence as Hiroto turned to Takeshi with questions written in hid face.  
“Maybe because your youma knows there is no betrayal? It can feel me here, feel that I agree with what you are doing?”  
Hiroto was hesitant, but after a while he nodded and agreed that Takeshi might be right.

“Take? You're really okay with this? Is it really okay?”  
Kasumi was hesitant as well and he could feel he doubts over the bond.  
“Yes Sumi-chan, it's okay. I don't mind. I trust Hiro, I trust you, and I trust myself.”

Takeshi didn't mention that he knew the truth behind Kasumi's feelings.  
It wasn't that she wanted Hiroto for who he was, it was the love she wanted, needed, a love she could trust, a relationship where she didn't need to worry about there being ulterior motives.  
As the heir to the Kiryu family there would be many males trying to woo her to get their hands on the power and money the Kiryu held.

When Kasumi carefully reached up to Hiroto for another kiss Takeshi pulled both of them close, letting both of them feel his acceptance and support.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Take, would you take my bag to the car?”  
Kasumi pointed toward a huge wheeled duffle-bag next to her door.  
“Hai hai.”  
The Kiryu estate was buzzing with activity as they were taking care of the final preparations for Kasumi to move to Miami and take possession of her very own home.  
As Takeshi was her Kage he had no choice but to go with her, though, he longed to get away from Japan just as much as she did, and where he went Hiroto would go.

Takeshi had made up his mind, when they arrived in Miami he would accept Hiroto's courtship offer, and if all things went well they would become mates once Takeshi turned 20 and was formally accepted as a full adult in both human and demon society.

“Ah, here comes Hiroto-san.”  
Kasumi's voice made him look toward the road leading up to the house and true to her words glimpses of the matte black finish on Hiroto's tricked out GT-R could be seen between the trees.  
They both walked up to greet him as the car rolled into the circular area in front of the main house, but the moment he stepped out of the car both of them noticed something was wrong, Hiroto's face was ashen and his aura in disarray with a sharp edge of pain and fury.  
“Hiro!”  
“What's wrong?”  
Both of them instantly dropped all pretenses of formality and rushed to Hiroto's side.

“The Elders...”  
He was mumbling and when he reached out for Takeshi there was a tense desperation in his aura.  
“Hiro, what about the Elders?”  
“They found out... Somehow they found out about my youma choosing you...”  
The voice trailed off again and Kasumi gave his arm a sharp shake.  
“Go on, what about them?”  
“They have called upon the old laws to forbid the union. I have been banned from courting or mating Take, nor am I allowed to leave Japan without their expressed permission.”  
Tears were rolling down Hiroto's face as he spoke and Takeshi was desperately trying to keep it together.  
“Then we don't go to Miami, screw them! Forget the mating just continue as we are!”  
Kasumi's tone was determined, and furious.  
“Kasumi, you don't understand. They have forbidden me to be with Take in any way. They have given us an ultimatum. Either I mate a pure-blood karasu tengu or I perform the Rite of Oblivion.”  
“But how? Your youma has picked Take, it won't accept another. It would kill you!”  
While Kasumi spoke Takeshi was standing in stunned silence, watching everything he wanted crumble before his eyes.  
“Since we have not initiated courting a mating can be forced and once formed my youma would accept the mating bond. But please, I beg you, both of you, don't make me go through that! Please!”  
Hiroto began begging them to accept the Rite of Oblivion instead, explaining that the powerful ritual would seal the memories of everyone he had ever been in contact with, make them forget he ever existed.  
“But I don't want to forget you!”  
“Sumi, with the Rite of Oblivion there is a chance. I will have to swear to never seek you out, or try to make you remember, but memory seals are notoriously unreliable. You can make the body, the brain, forget, but you can never make the soul forget.”  
“But..!”  
“Let me finish, please.”

Hiroto continued to explain that if they agreed to having their memories sealed there was always a chance that they would one day overcome the seal and remember him, and when they did they could seek him out, and if they did the Elders would not have any say anymore.  
“If I take a mate however it's over. I will never be able to be with Take again, I will never be able to do this again.”  
Leaning in he gave Kasumi a soft kiss and she broke down into tears as she squeezed herself in between Hiroto and Takeshi, seeking closeness to soothe her wounded soul.

“And what if we just refuse to comply? What if we don't pick either of their absurd choices?”  
Takeshi's voice was harsh and carried a deadly edge when he finally spoke up.  
“Then they mark us both for death. Place a bounty on our heads that will have the true monsters of this world coming for us. Monsters that won't hesitate to torture and kill Sumi-chan just to get to us.”  
Hiroto's words made Takeshi deflate visibly.  
“Please. Accept the seal and grow stronger. Grow strong enough to shatter that seal and return to me. I know you have it in you. I will turn to the mountain path, become _Yamabushi_ and wait for you no matter how long it takes.”  
“I will do as you ask. But please, you love life, don't stop living. No matter what, don't stop living. Keep racing, keep living!”  
The _Yamabushi_ were mountain hermits, devoted to seeking wisdom and power through solitude and ascetic lifestyle.  
“Fine, I won't become a hermit. I promise.”  
Shifting Kasumi's position slightly Takeshi leaned in and claimed Hiroto's lips in a desperate kiss.  
“Ehem!”  
The sound of someone roughly clearing their throat made Kasumi look away from the pair and it soon became obvious that the person objecting to the kiss was one of the tengu elders.  
Takeshi could feel Kasumi's mind snap in fury and he quickly shielded himself from her emotions and focused on Hiroto, on giving Hiroto as much of himself as he possibly could.

“Don't you dare! Don't you dare try to take this way from them! You intend to take everything, so you will at least permit them a proper farewell!”  
Kasumi turned on the elders with a cold fury, her tone was even but carried a deadly edge, and around her the power of Arashi and Kuragari crackled, summoned by her fury.  
“She's beautiful...”  
Hiroto's soft whisper made Takeshi chuckle and kiss him harder.  
“She is...”  
He agreed when breaking away for a quick breath, and she truly was, she was stunning in her fury.

“This is tengu matters, it is none of your concern _ningen_.”  
The elder spat the last word, _human_ , out as if it was the most disgusting thing imaginable.  
“I am Kiryu Kasumi, this concerns my Kage so it concerns me! And you will do well to remember your manners. I may be ningen, but the Kiryu house is one of the Ryujin houses and it has close ties to the youkai community.”

While she spoke her sharp voice and the flaring energies caused several of the Kiryu guards to approach, as well as Tsukiko, Hisao and Mizuki, and they all fell in line behind her, ready to defend Takeshi and Hiroto to make sure they could say their goodbyes without interruptions.

When Takeshi finally broke of the kiss and turned toward the old tengu he placed his hand on the hilt of the ryuken in warning as he allowed Hiroto to lead the way, and when Kasumi fell in step next to him several guards along with Tsukiko and the others joined them as well.

While they walked toward the shrine Hiroto explained a bit more about what would happen, how the ritual would erase all memory of his existence from everyone but the elders performing it.  
“But what about Sora? Will we forget about her as well?”  
“I'm afraid so, she would be too much of a clue for the elders or permit her to remain around you, or allow you knowledge of her. She will have to come with me, I will restore her memories of me afterwards and take care of her. But I'm afraid she will hurt badly from this.”  
“Please protect her. She may just be a lesser hanyou, but we both love her like a sister.”  
“I will.”

Once inside the ritual was prepared and before closing his eyes to go into a meditative state Takeshi turned to Hiroto one last time.  
“The next time I see you you better have that bracelet of yours with you.”  
The words caused Hiroto to smile brightly and nod in understanding, it was Takeshi's way of letting him know of his intention to accept the offered courtship.

“Kiryu Takeshi, I will always love you. Please, come back to me.”  
A whispered declaration of love was the last words Takeshi heard before the world went black.

The moment Takeshi woke up something felt wrong, he felt a soul wrenching emptiness and he instantly reached out for the bond with Kasumi in a blind panic, and felt the same feeling of wrongness echoed back at him.  
It only took a few seconds before Kasumi bolted into his room and threw herself into his arms.  
“Take! Something's wrong! You feel it don't you? Something's missing. I feel so empty...”  
“I know, I feel it. It hurts so much. I... I can't...”  
Takeshi pulled her closer with a desperate grip and he could feel tears flowing down his face, but as they held each-other close the feeling and the pain faded and was replaced with a deep rooted certainty that it had been a nightmare, and soon even that thought faded from their minds as they prepared to fly to Miami.

They were going to celebrate Kasumi's 18th birthday by moving into the estate she had built.  
She was still considered a minor in Japan until 20, but Daisuke and Misato had permitted the move so there had been no problems and Takeshi had a selection of papers to explain the discrepancy between his age and his appearance, both medical papers claiming him to have a rare condition that made him look older as well as a fake identity listing him as being 21.

Neither of them noticed the sad caw of a lone crow.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Wow, Sumi-chan! You really went all out with these bedrooms.”  
It was the first time Takeshi actually saw the new house and it was so much bigger than their home in Okinawa.  
The Kiryu home in Okinawa was built in a traditional style with fairly small rooms and for a long time they had lived in the shrine dorm with it's tiny rooms.  
“I wanted us to get away from home, from everything. So I decided to make this home the opposite in a way.”

They were standing in the doorway to the master bedroom and it was huge, the bed could easily fit four people and there were several doors, a big set of double door lead out to a large balcony.  
One side had two door, one door led to a large walk in closet and the other to a luxurious ensuite bathroom that opened up to a balcony with a small bubble pool, there was also a door connecting the closet to the bathroom.  
On the other side of the room was a door that led to a second bedroom that was intended for Takeshi, it was created in the same style but was slightly smaller.  
“It's a bit big, but I think I can get used to it.”  
“Look across the hallway. I think you'll love it.”  
Prompted by Kasumi's joyful eagerness Takeshi closed the main door to his bedroom and opened the double door across the hallway to reveal a large study with floor to ceiling bookshelves and a large desk.  
There was still a few elements of Japanese design in the room, several shōji dividers softened the light from the all of windows and there was a tokonoma in one of the corners and on the tatami in front of it was a small traditional desk made for sitting on the floor.  
“I like it. Thank you Sumi-chan.”  
“Only the best for my Take.”

The teasing quips continued as they inspected the the property before getting ready to retire for the night.  
“It's just not the same as a real onsen.”  
Kasumi complained slightly about the bubble pool not being as good as the onsen back home, but she was sighing and moaning nonetheless as the jets of water slowly made her relax.  
“Take, would you braid my hair please?”  
“Mhm, come her.”  
Takeshi took the brush and carefully brushed Kasumi's hair until it was dry before braiding it.  
“Good night Sumi-chan.”

They both retreated to their bedroom but neither of them were able to sleep.  
Takeshi found himself just laying there with the nagging feeling that something was missing, that something was wrong, trying to soothe the wrongness he rolled to his side, gathered the pillows and blankets and curled around them.  
It did feel a bit better, but sleep remained absent and he could feel that Kasumi was having the same problem.  
About an hour later there was a soft knock on the door between his and Kasumi's rooms.  
“Take, can I come in?”  
“Mhm...”  
“I can't sleep, something feels wrong...”  
“I feel it too. It feels empty.”  
“Like something's missing.”  
When she sat down at the edge of his bed he moved the bunched up pillows out of the way and she instantly scooted over and curled up under his chin.  
“Maybe it's the lack of youki. We have gotten used to sleeping in the shrine with Tsukiko's and Naoki's youki always brushing against our reiki. Even back in the house we could always sense Tsukiko.”  
Takeshi offered his theory and Kasumi agreed that it was a likely reason.

It took the better part of a year before they were able to sleep soundly at night without resorting to sharing a bed, and even then they would occasionally wake up and feel lonely, feel that nagging feeling that something or someone was missing.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

Ocean Drive Miami, 2015

Takeshi and Kasumi had been walking along the Ocean Drive all afternoon and he was frankly sick and tired of the attention they received, especially the attention Kasumi was receiving.  
Oh, he had tried to talk her into choosing something less eye-catching for their little outing but she had been as stubborn as ever.

 

.·:*¨¨*:·.-Earlier the same day-.·:*¨¨*:·.

“Meirei da!”  
Kasumi's voice cut like a razor and Takeshi froze slightly before bowing with a glare,  
“As you wish, Kasumi- _sama_!”  
He saw her flinch at the honorific but that was it for their little _argument_ , he hated when she out right ordered him to back down in an argument but he had sworn to be her shadow and as such he could not go against a direct order unless her life was in the balance.  
He had tried to convince her that they should be wearing casual clothes in the typical Miami fashion style but she would not have it.  
She insisted that since this was technically her birthday outing, even though her birthday had been three days prior, they would “dress for the occasion” which put him in a crisp, all white suit and an ankle-length, white coat and her in a skin-tight, black and red Chinese long dress with gold inlays.  
He knew it would be trouble but an order was an order.

Not only had she insisted in the rather outrageous clothing, she had also insisted on them checking in to the penthouse of one of the fancy Miami hotels despite living just outside the city.

The trouble had started before they had even exited the hotel as both their phones started beeping hysterically as NFC-messages arrived with phone numbers, room numbers and various invitations for food and drinks, by the time they had made it through the lobby ha had counted 47 messages on Kasumi's phone and 34 on his own, in addition to those several women had slipped him notes something that the males luckily hadn't dared tried to approach Kasumi for.

.·:*¨¨*:·.-End flashback-.·:*¨¨*:·.

 

 

They had spent the afternoon walking along the boardwalk and Takeshi's mood had been deteriorating as the hours passed by, the constant attention grated on his senses, he preferred to remain hidden even if it was a huge drain on his reiki.  
As the afternoon turned towards evening bad turned towards worse as the human filth of the local nightlife crawled out of the gutters, tactless brutes who believed themselves irresistible, bullies who believed themselves strong and prowling predators seeking prey.  
He let out a small breath of relief as they turned from the main street and headed towards the restaurant where they would dine, it was located off the path but came with excellent recommendations, its seafood supposedly some of the best in the city but without all the hype and fame it was a quiet little place.  
Once inside he took them to a table in the back, the wall mirror in the corner would allow him to keep an eye on what happened in the room without having to place Kasumi in a vulnerable position.

Halfway through their meal a group of soldiers came in and headed for the bar section for some heavy drinking and it didn't take long before the group became rowdy, bragging loudly about their accomplishments as a GCTI special operations unit.  
“Come on! Keep it coming!”  
They were pushing the staff around demanding new beers as fast as they drained them while calling for various snacks and trying to grab themselves a handful of the waitresses.

 _GCTI; Global Counter Terrorism Initiative_ , once a private security firm specializing in reconnaissance, recovery and "cleanup" they had managed to secure massive government contracts and connections in the fallout of recent years increase in international terrorism and now held a position as the primary weapon against most forms of international threats.  
Special operations unit under the GCTI meant they were probably mercenaries, military dropouts and general scum, not the kind of people you would want to be associated with, but then again, neither was Takeshi.

When dessert was brought to their table one of the soldiers noticed them, stumbled over and tried to push his way to Kasumi in the corner but in an instant Takeshi stood before him and blocked his path,  
“Please leave sir, we do not wish to be disturbed”  
He calmly tried to reason with the man but had little luck and it was quite a task to remain polite and at least seemingly calm in the face of the rude man.  
Leaning heavily into Takeshi the soldier continued to try to get to Kasumi and spoke up with a loud voice.  
“Hey, hot-stuff! Why don't you loose pretty-boy here and come dance with some real men?”  
Kasumi didn't look up from her dessert as she calmly, coldly, responded that she held no interest in socializing with mercenary trash, this of course did not go over well and the soldier called out to his colleagues,  
“Hey boys, this Jank-skank here thinks she's too good for us.”  
Takeshi cursed to himself, this was getting out of hand fast, all of the soldiers were armed and they were not the kind of people to hesitate attacking even what they believed to be unarmed civilians.

“ _Kasumi! Is it really necessary to antagonize them?”_  
At times like this the telepathic link that the dantai-bond granted had some rather obvious advantages.  
_“There is only ten of them, shouldn't be any problem for my dear Kage? After all, you are properly armed thanks to my insistence on the choice of wardrobe.”_  
Her response made him curse again, so this was how she intended to get even for him using -sama with her earlier in the day.

Movement from the soldier in attempt to grab Kasumi brought his attention fully back to the situation at hand and he took hold of the arm reaching out and twisted it around before giving him a shove toward his friends.  
“Leave! I have no interest in fighting you.”  
But by now the remaining soldiers had all risen and walked over to them and were quite obviously looking for a fight, at Kasumi's telepathic order he allowed the first two soldier to grab his arms and subdue him while the others surrounded the table where she was still calmly eating her dessert.

“Come on missy, dance with us and we will forget about this little misunderstanding here”, “Yeah, just a dance”,  
“We are heroes, the least you can do is dance with us!”  
They all spoke over each other but Kasumi payed them no heed and just kept eating.  
The one closest lost his calm and grabbed her arm, pulling her up from her seat and into his arms. “You will dance with us and you will play nice or pretty-boy over there will find himself missing something important!”  
He hissed his demand and at his word one of the men holding Takeshi pulled out a large knife and put its edge tight against his throat.  
At this Kasumi looked up with a seemingly serene smile playing on her face.  
He knew this smile, it was one of those smiles that would send men, even youkai, who knew its meaning running for their lives, it was a smile spelling death.  
Looking over her shoulder at the soldier holding her she replied  
“Dance you say? I guess a dance would be acceptable. Kage, why don't you take the first **dance**?”  
As she spoke a single word echoed in his mind.  
_“Iku!”_  
The order to act in her defense.

The sound of metal against metal sang out into the room followed by the thuds of two bodies hitting the floor, gasps and attempted shouts of orders were cut short by the song of a blade as a flurry of movement was followed by eerie silence.  
A flick of a wrist and steel was once again sheathed.  
Startled cries broke the silence as other guests noticed the ten bodies on the floor and realized what had happened.  
“Why is it _blade-dancer_ , that you always manage to cover me in blood while never getting as much as a single drop on yourself?”  
He ignored her jibe and reached for her hand.  
“It's time we leave unless you wish to spend the rest of the night in police holding.”  
She didn't resist him and none of the guests dared try to stop them from leaving.

Once back at the hotel Takeshi tossed his coat over the back of the couch and removed his katana before flopping into said couch and turning on the news.  
As expected the incident was on every channel and he began flipping between them while waiting for Kasumi to finish her bath.

” _Terrorists strikes against Miami restaurant.”  
_ -Click-  
_”Terrorist attack against GCTI off duty personnel in Miami.”  
_ -Click-  
_”Several dead in bloody attack against restaurant.”  
_ -Click-  
_”_ _ **Breaking News!**_ _Local authorities have released the death-toll from the Miami restaurant attack. A total of 34 dead, 10 soldiers, 16 restaurant guests and the 8 employees working at the time of the incident. This makes it the biggest attack on US soil since Boston.”  
_ -Crash-  
The remote was crushed in his grip as he stared at the text listing the civilian victims.

34, that wasn't right, it should be 10 soldiers no more.  
_”The victims were brutally gunned down before the place was set on fire”  
_ Again the information did not match.  
The GCTI!  
For some reason they were covering up the real story.  
“Nani? What the hell are they up to?”  
He looked over his shoulder at Kasumi's sudden exclamation but looked back just as quick at the sight of her state of dress, or rather undress.  
“Ehm, Kasumi, I believe you forgot something when you left the bathroom.”  
She had probably picked up on his emotions and come out to see what had him riled up.  
He heard her walk up behind him and leaned over the back of the couch, he could hear her smirk as she spoke,  
“Aw, poor Take, so easily embarrassed.”  
She patted him on the head before taking his coat and donning it as a bathrobe, slipping over the back of the couch she sat down beside him.

After calling room-service for a new remote they spent the night watching the various news reports, they needed all the information they could get to figure this out, they could both feel a storm brewing on the horizon but there was more to it, he could feel something much deeper and the dragon-blood tattoo was burning his skin, something he intentionally was hiding from Kasumi.  
The feeling of destiny hung heavy in the air and somehow he knew that once again the future had shifted onto an unseen path.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

3 days later the incident was starting to fade from the news, false descriptions of suspects had been displayed and equally false reports stating that the culprits had been caught had followed soon after.  
The GCTI had turned it into a major PR stunt, exploiting every angel to gain more funding, more power.  
There was still something going on behind the curtains and Takeshi did not like it, getting information from within the GCTI was hard work.

 

On the 4 th  day after the fateful evening they were coming back up to the hotel room but as Takeshi opened the door he froze, someone was in their room, sitting on the couch as if he belonged there was a middle aged man in a simple suit.  
With practiced ease he drew his blade and closed the distance in the blink of an eye and placed the edge against the intruder's throat and applied a slight pressure as a threat, however the intruder remained calm as he spoke up.  
“I would advise against that course of action Takeshi, if I die here the GCTI will present evidence proving that the Kiryu family is behind a series of terror attacks throughout Europe and the US and I trust you would not like that.”  
The pressure of the blade lessened as Takeshi moved it to rest at the man's shoulder instead, a sign that he was willing to listen but still considered him a threat.

With a smile the man took a deep breath and started talking again.  
“Since I already know your names I guess it would be rude not to introduce myself, I am Tom Addams and I am an independent recruiter for the GCTI.”  
As Tom spoke a silent conversation of sorts was taking place between Takeshi and Kasumi, thoughts melding, blending together until they themselves couldn't really tell what part was Kasumi and what part was Takeshi  
_“He is lying. Yes, I know. The identity he is giving is probably false”.  
_ “I was called in after your little stunt at the restaurant, you made quite an impression Takeshi, the big-shots wants you, or rather your skills as a killer and it's my job to make sure you sign up.”  
Tom kept on while looking expectantly at Takeshi.  
“Oh, I understand that you are probably not interested but unfortunately for you you have no choice, if you do not sign up as a voluntary recruit the Kiryu family will be made to look like terrorists and evidence placing sweet little Kasumi here at the restaurant will resurface.”  
At this the keen edge of the katana was once again pressed against a vulnerable throat and Takeshi spoke up for the first time since he entered the room.  
“Even if I had wanted to it is impossible for me to comply with this demand, no person under the age of 20 can join the GCTI and despite how I appear I am in fact only 15.”  
This information brought a brief flash of fear and shock across Tom's eyes before he spoke with a smile,  
“Ah, I see they didn't give me the proper intel before sending me here. Oh well, no matter, you wouldn't be the first young talent acquired with some special assistance.”  
Tom slowly reached into his pocket and brought out an envelope and emptied on the table before pointing toward a passport and photo ID,  
“I suggest you look at that.”  
_“Sumi, check it please.”_  
An unspoken request passed between them and she walked up to the table and picked up the items for a closer look

Name: Takeshi, Kiryu  
Date of birth: December 17, 1992  
Citizenship: United States of America / Japan

There was also a paper detailing the application process for GCTI service.

She held the ID and passport up to Takeshi and he quickly looked them over before turning his eyes back on the intruder,  
“So, a false identity to make it possible to sign up and equally false evidence to assure I don't consider the option to refuse.”  
He sheathed his blade before he spoke again,  
“That leaves me with no options but to do as asked, but be warned, heads will roll for this and yours will be one of the first. Now, get lost!”  
At this the intruder, Tom, laughed and gathered his papers.  
“You will report to the GTCI training center here in Miami at 0600 Monday morning.”  
With those words Tom left them.

Trouble indeed, but he had no choice but to comply or he would be putting both Kasumi and all of the Kiryu at risk.

 

(¯`·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.,-(_Conscript_)-,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)

“Are you sure you have everything you need?”  
Kasumi was digging through the items Takeshi had placed on his bed.  
“Yes Sumi. I doubt they will allow me to wear my own clothes apart from maybe underwear.”  
“But it's so little. Shouldn't we go back to the house and get more things?”

They were still at the hotel, Takeshi felt it would be no point in canceling their reservations, and Kasumi was fretting about the situation while he tried to stay calm.

“Fretting won't do us any good. But there is one thing I could use, better bags.”  
“Oh, shopping time!”  
Kasumi's happy words rang hollow though.  
Takeshi wasn't sure if they would be able to find what he was looking for though, he needed a good, lockable hard case for carrying his blades as well as one for his guns.  
Finding a good duffle-bag would be easy though.  
They managed to make most of Saturday pass by with shopping and once back at the hotel they curled up in the sofa and spent the rest of it talking.

“Go on Sumi, go get some sleep.”  
“Mhm...”  
Instead of going to bed she just pushed him over and curled up against his chest and went to sleep.

Sunday was spent in a far more solemn mood, speaking of the past and as evening came around Kasumi began pulling on the bond, asking for more and Takeshi was more than willing to give it, dropping all barriers he pulled her tightly into his side.  
They watched as the colors of the sunset were painted into darkness and they didn't bother turning any lights on, the lights of the city below was plenty enough for them.

When Takeshi's grip tightened around Kasumi to the point of being uncomfortable for what felt like the hundredth time she groaned slightly and when he let go with a flicker of an apology over the bond she moved into his lap and straddled him.  
“Sumi?”  
He could feel her searching for something over the bond and she was studying his eyes as if they would reveal an answer that not even the bond could give her, then suddenly her eyes widened as she seemingly found what she was looking for.  
A moment later she was kissing him softly and he found himself returning the kiss without thinking.  
He expected it to feel wrong, but it didn't, if anything it felt very right.  
“Sumi..”  
His words were interrupted by another kiss and it took quite a few tries to finish what he was trying to say.  
“You know there can be no future in this.”  
“I know, but I need this...” _  
_ He could feel the truth, they both were seeking a closeness that even the bond was unable to offer.  
“We both need this.”  
He agreed with her before reclaiming her lips, this time a bit more forcefully, letting the need guide him.

Running his hands along her legs and up to her hips he stopped at the belt that kept the short silk bathrobe in place.  
The soft noise she made when he ran his finger over her hip set his senses on fire and he could feel her over the bond, this must be what Hisao had spoken about when he warned them of the dangers of physical intimacy causing a feedback over the bond.  
As Kasumi reached down and undid the belt he slowly opened it and and looked at the tanned skin, his sister had never been much for the pale Japanese fashion, it was far from the first time he saw her naked, but he had never seen her in quite this way before.  
“Remember Hisao's warning about intimacy and the bond, the addiction...”  
“I know.”  
He was about to say something more but he completely forgot what it was when she pushed aside the lapel of his robe and dragged her nails down his chest and across his nipples before leaning in and biting down hard.

Moments later his mind went completely blank as she changed her position and lowered herself onto him.  
There was a flicker of pain over the bond, then a brief nothingness as they ceased to exist as individuals, then the world exploded into sensations, there were no borders between them anymore, only absolute unity.  
The feedback between of their emotions triggered a loop of sort, pushing them higher and higher until they reached a mutual peak and crashed into nothingness.

It was still night when Takeshi woke and found that they had somehow made it to the bed and a quick look at the watch told him it was just after 2.  
With a quick look he confirmed that Kasumi was deep asleep so he carefully untangled himself and went for a shower, got dressed in the training clothes Kasumi had picked for him, the double dragon, Kung Fu, inspired set made him smile slightly as he took the tanto Doufaran had made for him and placed it next to Kasumi.  
After a moment of consideration he also removed the bracelet he always wore and placed it next to the tanto, he doubted he would be allowed to wear it anyway.  
It had been a gift from Tsukiko, according to her the leather bracelet with it's carved dragon beads was proof that despite being born human he had the soul of a dragon.  
He gently brushed his fingers along the rather large beads, together the four large beads, carved from one of Tsukiko's claws in her true form,  formed the body and head of a dragon and there were also a few smaller, decorative, beads added to the leather strips.  
He had scolded Tsukiko quite fiercely when he found out that the leather for the bracelet had actually been cut from her body.  
   
He didn't wake Kasumi, instead he took his bags and left silently and began walking toward the base.

 


End file.
